A Delightful Parable of Unexpected EncountersIn the Tradition of The Quilt & The GiftAriel had dreamed about this chance, but she never thought it would come so soon. Only halfway through her training came the surprise assignment: she was to be sent as an undercover messenger with a mission of hope to the city of Philadelphia. Expecting the City of Brother Love, what she discovers is a harsh urban landscape where crime, poverty, and the extent of human indifference is overwhelming.When a street thief pilfers her secret pass card, Ariel loses the access she needs to get back home. To make matters worse, she fears that the thief might use her card to gain unauthorized entry. However, the tables are turned when he finds that his brief encounter with Ariel throws a disturbing light into the depths of his heart.When the two finally meet again, both are in for a big surprise.

Here, eagerly anticipated, is the definitive biography of Elijah Muhammad (né Elija Poole), a sharecropper's son with a fourth- grade education who became one of the most controversial Americans of the twentieth century, the founder and "Prophet" of the Nation of Islam, a movement dedicated to black separatism and self-empowerment. Though Muhammad's main argument--that white people were innately evil ("devils," he called them)--ran counter to the precepts of orthodox Islam, he was the chief influence in the conversion of nearly four million African Americans to Islam, touching in the process the lives of figures ranging from Muhammad Ali and Jesse Jackson to Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan. But in his desperate grasp for power, Muhammad also amassed a huge personal fortune at the expense of his followers. He was a party to ritualistic homicides, had illicit affairs galore, and was quick to betray his friends and charges, most notably Malcolm X. In brief, he violated every ideal and principle that he espoused. With the cooperation of some of Elijah Muhammad's children and former apostles and with access to previously unreleased FBI files, Karl Evanzz gives us an unprecedented account of the life of the man whose philosophy continues, long after his death, to shape race relations in America.

ALFREDO LEISECA was born in 1943 in Havana and grew up in the small city of Morón in Central Cuba. In 1960 he came to Miami and lived the life of an exile, interrupted briefly by a sojourn in Mexico where, for a few turbulent years, he led a bohemian existence. After his return to the United States, he took degrees in Economics and International Relations from Florida International University. As a poet and translator he was active in South Florida's literary community. He died on April 19, 2002, victim of a senseless hit-and-run accident. His works include Gurabatos a la Zurda (Left-handed Scrawl), De Gaviotas y Meteoros (of Seagulls and Meteors), and El Mensajero de los Duendes (The Messenger of the Goblins). He is the Spanish translator of My POEMpire (Mi UniERSO) by Hungarian poet Ferenc Mózsi. The Messenger of the Goblins is Alfredo Leiseca's first book in English."More than a book, I offer you a friend of uninhibited kindness, a man who dared to live by the spirit." -Jorge Valls Poet"Alfredo Leiseca's songs are spiritual absorptions inspired by his frustrations echoes from the depth-charged soul in an absurd sea that is our world." -René León Publicaciones Culturales"A captivating collection. Through his magical examination of existence and the eternal, Alfredo Leiseca evokes powerful emotions. A true work of art." -Monica Gonzalez Florida International University"In this magical and surreal collection of poems, Alfredo Leiseca weaves the fantastic and eternal landscape through all that is human in ephemeral existence. A masterful poet who deciphers the most subtle spirituality that seeks to know the true significance of life itself. The goblins are select beings who transport the remains of the poet's remembrance to the impassive sovereignty of time." -Marie Guirbiety University of Salamanca