Cuba Books - Page 4

Cuba on the Verge: An Island in Transition

Arthur Miller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A MASTERPIECE 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

If you look at something from enough different angles, you begin to sense what it is truly like. That is the overarching strategy of this wondrous book. Multi-faceted Cuba is seen through the eyes of greatly gifted writers and photographers, each with his or her own unique relationship with and idiosyncratic take on the island. The strategy succeeds brilliantly. Paradoxes and trade-offs are subtly explored, for example, between the blessings of free education and health care versus constraints on the ability to pursue dreams. You get not only to understand but also to feel the sensuous physical beauty of the place and the strains of Cuba's love/hate relationship with the U.S.. After spending time with this book, I feel as if I had actually been there and am left with a longing to go.

Editorial Review:

This anthology showcases the work of leading Cuban and American writers and photographers and offers an insight into life in the island nation today. While the world ponders Cuba's future and the United States weighs the effects of the trade embargo imposed more than 40 years ago, Cubans go about their everyday lives overcoming obstacles with a mixture of ingenuity, intelligence, perseverence and, above all else, a sense of humour. The book aims to be an honest and balanced portrayal of the complex realities of modern Cuban life. Essays and portfolios of images are linked to central themes including music, sexuality, architecture, Afro-Cuban culture, rural life and the role of women. The introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy, titled "Going to Cuba?", sets the stage for an array of visions and voices. An epilogue by playwright Arthur Miller, titled "Castro", concludes the book.

Havana (City Guide)

Brendan Sainsbury

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Editorial Review:

Havana is a cultural powerhouse. A delightful and at times wicked set of contradictions, she is proud and boastful, unabashed and raw. Unlock the doors to the city - the Havana of delectable mojitos and proud intellectualism, of salsa and Santeria - with this comprehensive guide: cruise through Havana Vieja ona tailored walking tour, find romance along the Malecon, or simply puff knowingly on your Cohiba as you marvel at this cosmopolitan city on the verge of international stardom.

Discover Havana - dedicated Arts, Music and Architecture chapters reveal the culture, history, spirit and pathos of this Caribbean dynamo.

Find Yourself - detailed full-color maps guide you through Havana Vieja's narrow streets to her revolutionary monuments and neighboring beaches.

When Night Falls - immerse yourself in Havana's mambo rhythms or find that perfect hostel with expanded sleeping, eating and entertainment listings.

Under The Skin - comprehensive language and cultural coverage, and candid local interviews take you beyond the tourist trail.

Insight Guides Cuba

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This brand new edition Insight Guide to Cuba features outstanding full-colour photography, alongside illuminating explorations of all the places to go in a region-by-region format, covering everywhere from Havana and the Far East to the Zapata Peninsula. Major attractions, such as Hanabanilla Lake and the Sierra Maestra Mountains are highlighted to help you plan priorities for your trip, whilst all places of special interest are cross-referenced on full-colour maps throughout the guide, so they can be quickly pin-pointed as they are mentioned in the text. Additional maps can be found within the front and back covers, to provide instant orientation and easy navigation. Clear, colour-coded sections include in-depth features on history, culture, sport, art and the local people, along with practical advice covering accommodation for all budgets, transport, eating out and much more. Useful contact information and many other travel tips are also included. The unique combination of insightful exploration alongside practical advice means that this guide truly is a pleasure to read before, during and after your visit. With this guide you also receive a FREE HotelClub loyalty card, offering GBP15 off your first hotel booking plus great savings of up to 60% on over 30,000 hotels across 120 countries.

Cuba: Picturing Change

Louis A.,Jr. Perez, Ambrosio Fornet

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With insightful essays—in English and Spanish—from Louis A. Pérez Jr., America's preeminent Cuba scholar, and Ambrosio Fornet, renowned Cuban author and screenwriter, Cuba: Picturing Change introduces the work of photographer E. Wright Ledbetter, whose images create a captivating portrait of the remarkable Cuban culture as it faces the complex forces of change.

Made from visits to Cuba over a four-year period (1997-2001), Ledbetter's photographs take us on a compelling journey within a culture pressured by numerous internal and external difficulties, where the resulting climate is saturated with the tension and uncertainty brought on by a political and economic future that continues to evolve with no clear direction.

Graphically alluring and rich in metaphor, Ledbetter's photographs focus on the overwhelming power and spirit of the Cuban people. They also explore what he believes is an imminent Cuban culture shift and inevitable redefinition of Cuban identity.

As Ledbetter's visual narrative unfolds, however, the photographs begin to reveal a greater depth and mystery, framed by the honest eye of a humanist and the compassion and perspective of an artist.

Cuba is a setting in which the questions surrounding its future become the questions all cultures face as social systems—political, economic, and otherwise—help shape human experience.

The photographs and essays of Cuba: Picturing Change emerge as a beautiful, balanced, and inclusive body of work. They capture one view of Cuba on the cusp of centuries, and at the same time explore the timeless art of human perseverance and the powerful current of the ever-changing human story.

Bicycling Cuba: Fifty Days of Detailed Rides from Havana to Pinar Del Rio and the Oriente

Wally Smith, Barbara Smith

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Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Discover all Cuba has to offer in this complete cycling guide.

Wally and Barbara Smith spent 6 months cycling 8,000 miles in Cuba to provide detailed directions for 50 days of cycling. The rides vary in length, many combining to create multi-day loops. Detailed directions describe rides leaving Havana to the west and east. Subsequent rides are clustered in the three best regions of Cuba for cycling: Pinar del Rio, Central Cuba, and the Oriente. A final section contains advice on connecting the regions for a long tour of the entire island. In addition, the authors provide information on getting to Cuba, equipment and accessories, food and water, safety considerations, overnight accommodations, and more.

Exploring this fascinating country on two wheels may just be the best way to fully appreciate its history, people, and culture. 50 black and white photographs, 12-page color insert, 15 maps, index.

• Most detailed routes of any Cuba guidebook
• Well written narrative gives travelers a feel for the island

Walker Evans: Cuba

Walker Evans

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In 1933, Walker Evans traveled to Cuba to take photographs for The Crime of Cuba, a book by the American journalist Carleton Beals. Beals's explicit goal was to expose the corruption of Cuban dictator Gerardo Machado and the long, torturous relationship between the United States and its island neighbor. The photographs Evans made during his visit to Cuba are fascinating for both their subject matter and the evidence they provide of the young photographer's artistic development. Walker Evans: Cuba brings together more than sixty of these images—all from the Getty Museum's extensive holdings of the photographer’s work—along with an essay by the noted writer and commentator Andrei Codrescu.

Codrescu's spirited text helps to provide a sense of the aesthetic and political forces that were shaping Evans's art in the early 1930s. He argues that Evans's photographs are the work of a young artist whose temperament was distinctly at odds with Beals's impassioned rhetoric. Looking closely at individual photographs, Codrescu shows that Evans was just beginning to combine his early, formalist aesthetic with the social concerns that would figure so prominently in his later work. Evans's images and Codrescu's lively, insightful essay provide a compelling study of a major artist at an important juncture in his career.

Es Cuba: Life and Love on an Illegal Island

Lea Aschkenas

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Es Cuba is a poignant and passionate travel memoir about falling in love with a country and one of its compatriots. Aschkenas never strays from her acute awareness that there is no way to separate her foreignness (intensified by U.S.-Cuba relations) from the complex mix of emotions, devotion and rejection, enrapture and apprehension that she develops toward the country.

Her tale is filled with beautifully woven descriptions of Cuba and the customs and habits of its people. Aschkenas is a discerning observer, taking in the innocence, isolation, contradictions, and resolute optimism of a people who have persevered against the collective disappointment bestowed upon them by a government that has been unable to deliver the utopia promised by socialism. Aschkenas, already a seasoned traveler by the time she arrives in Cuba for the first time in 1999, is overcome by her own passion for Cuba and her unraveling affection for Alfredo as she comes to appreciate his naïveté, sincerity, and ability to live for the moment, something she comes to realize is the effect of growing up in a culture where nothing is ever certain.

National Geographic Traveler: Cuba 2nd Edition

Christopher Baker

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Editorial Review:

Combining evocative prose and vital information, our updated guide to Cuba introduces the rich culture and fascinating sites of this paradoxical country. Mapped walking tours display the charms of Santiago de Cuba and Old Havana, and a driving tour reveals the breathtaking north coast. 3-D illustrations show the exquisite details of colonial architecture and coral reefs; sidebars explore such interests as cigar making, mangrove swamps, and the home areas of Che Guevara and Jose Marti.

Each Traveler guide includes such practical information as getting there and around, where to stay, and cultural and recreational activities to help make the most of your vacation.

TRADING WITH THE ENEMY A YANKEE TRAVELS THROUGH CASTROS CUBA

Tom Miller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Objective, humorous, and insightful 3 out of 5 stars.
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.

While Miller's book is not as fascinating as the one related to Cuba that I am currently reading (Che Guevara, A Revolutionary Life--I can't put it down!), I am still shocked by the harsh criticism of some of the other reviewers. I thoroughly enjoyed Miller's objective, humorous, and insightful account of his time in Cuba, which only further fuelled my desire to visit this extraordinary country. My only complaint is that it wasn't more up-to-date. The bulk of the book takes place about 10 years ago...though it is still definitely worth the read if you are interested in Cuba.

Essentially a travelogue & diary 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Miller concentrates on the people he meets and keeps away from politics.

The result is an entertaining account of his extended visit to Cuba including the time he spent in Havana and travelling throughout the country.

I found the book puts a more humanizing face on the country that is always dominated by coverage of Castro and his policies.

For me, this book is a good companion to Buena Vista Social Club in providing a non-political view of Cuba and Cubans.

Editorial Review:

The author goes off the beaten track to give an entertaining, first-hand tour of Cuba, drinking with bartenders who knew Hemingway, taking oboe lessons, traveling with a baseball team, touring Guantanamo Bay, and visiting with Cubans of all kinds.

Dancing with Cuba: A Memoir of the Revolution

Alma Guillermoprieto

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dancer 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

The person who stressed this is a memoir is on target though I think it is quite well written. As a long time admirer of Guillermoprieto's journalism I found this a fascinating and unfaiingly honest account of her life as a dance teacher in Cuba before she became a writer. IT IS a memoir and the self pity of her young self is conveyed with a brutal honesty--it is the middle-aged writer descibing where she once was and her perspective is a perfect balance of scorn and affection for who she was. If you are looking for a wide ranging view of the revolution, this is not the book you want to read, though you will get a very interesting perspective on life in Cuba in the early 1970s. If you have not read anything by her before, read The Heart That Bleeds and Looking for History (as well as Mark Danner's The Massacre at El Mozote, a story she was responsible, with Ray Bonner at the Times, for breaking in 1982. She is a remarkable writer and this memoir was one of my favorite reads of the last several years.

Editorial Review:

In 1970 a young dancer named Alma Guillermoprieto left New York to take a job teaching at Cuba’s National School of Dance. For six months, she worked in mirrorless studios (it was considered more revolutionary); her poorly trained but ardent students worked without them but dreamt of greatness. Yet in the midst of chronic shortages and revolutionary upheaval, Guillermoprieto found in Cuba a people whose sense of purpose touched her forever.

In this electrifying memoir, Guillermoprieto–now an award-winning journalist and arguably one of our finest writers on Latin America– resurrects a time when dancers and revolutionaries seemed to occupy the same historical stage and even a floor exercise could be a profoundly political act. Exuberant and elegiac, tender and unsparing, Dancing with Cuba is a triumph of memory and feeling.