Overview
Beyond the throngs of tourists streaming through Central Havana’s broad Prado Avenue, and outside the yoke of Castro’s 43-year-old Revolutionary program, there exists a parallel Cuba a separate evolution of a people struggling to survive. With personal stories that depict a people torn between following the directives of their government and finding a way to better their lot, journalist Ben Corbett gives us the daily life of many considered outlaws by Castro’s regime. But are they outlaws or rather ingenious survivors of what many Cubans consider to be a forty-year mistake, a tangle of contradictions that have led to a stable instability?At a time when Cuba precariously walks on the ledge between socialism and capitalism, This is Cuba gets to the heart of this so-called outlaw culture, bringing readers into the living rooms, rooftops, parks, and city streets to listen to stories of frustration, hope, and survival.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New WritersCuba: land of sparkling water and pristine beaches or Marxist manifesto gone bad? As Ben Corbett reveals in his provocative look at the home of the Buena Vista Social Club, Cuba is a fragmented country and an island full of contradictions.
Quickly -- when you think of Cuba, what first comes to mind? Beautiful women rolling the leaves of dried tobacco plants for use in the famous Havana cigars? A refreshing cuba libre served poolside? Elián Gonzalez? Castro's land inspires many images, but the reality for most Cubans is quite different. As with many developing nations, Cuba is a place where time takes on a meaning of its own, and where the black market is the only way to secure life's essentials.
For 50 years, Cubans have patiently waited for life in their country to improve. Living on the promises of "the beard," they have sacrificed decent lives to help bring about the promised revolution and the subsequent prosperity it will surely return to their homeland. But why is it taking so long? Corbett went in search of the "true Cuban experience," and what he found is eye-opening. "The alleyways, the little niches, the living rooms, the fringes of the Revolution are the doorways in this other Cuba, where the desperation for change continues to simmer." Corbett's exposition of the "outlaw culture" on the other side of the "chasm" is a four-year foray into the lives of everyday Cubans, and an indictment of Castro's treatment of the people and the land he claims to love. (Winter 2002 Selection)
Rob Meltzer
A credible tour of modern Cuba.—Milford Daily News