This Is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives - Hardcover
A colorful first-person account of living on the fringes of Castro's Cuba, & a splendid evocation of the modern Cuban character. With personal stories that depict a people torn between following the directives of their government & 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 40-year mistake, a tangle of contradictions that has resulted in a strange hybrid of American-style capitalism & a homegrown black market economy. Corbett brings readers into the living rooms, rooftops, parks, & city streets to listen to stories of frustration, hope & survival. B&W photos.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Ben Corbett is a freelance journalist who has spent the past three years researching and writing almost exlusively on Cuban culture, politics, and economics. Some of his features on Cuba have appeared in Tattoo Magazine, Easyriders, Fringe Golf, and Relix. He lives in Colorado.
From Library Journal:
With its provocative subtitle, freelance journalist Corbett's new book on Cuba certainly is not sponsored by the Cuban department of tourism. Nor is it a treatise from the Miami exile community. Rather, it is an honest, behind-the-scenes look at everyday Cubans dealing with life and survival. They are pawns in the great chess game between two looming ideologies: the capitalist United States, which never recognized the legitimacy of the Cuban Revolution, and the Socialist government under Castro, which is determined to continue the struggle. These ordinary folk spend an inordinate amount of time trying to make ends meet and stretch their meager resources (and ration books) from month to month. Where contrary political expression is dangerous, they resist in subtler ways: buying or selling goods on the black market, making illegal money off the tourist trade, or even getting tattoos. More daring Cubans take to the seas. Yet perhaps Fidel's stubbornness and belief in Cubanidad ("Cubaness") has paid off in an unintentional way. "They are now prepared to defend Cuba's destiny," concludes Corbett of Cubans. "And in the preparedness, perhaps Castro achieved the greatest victory of all." Recommended for all large academic and public libraries.
Lee Arnold, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Lee Arnold, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherWestview Press
- Publication date2002
- ISBN 10 075679207X
- ISBN 13 9780756792077
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages292
- Rating
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