Travelers' Tales Cuba: True Stories (Travelers' Tales Guides) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1932361103 ISBN 13: 9781932361100

Publisher: Travelers' Tales, 2004

Synopsis

From revolution to embargo, from the charms of old Havana to the beaches of the Bay of Pigs, from the hypnotic rhythms of Caribbean music to voodoo influences, Cuba is a country of passion and complexity, a political dinosaur on the verge of dramatic change. Travelers’ Tales Cuba is an eye-opening literary ensemble, in which Cuba emerges with all its strengths and weaknesses, convictions and contradictions.

In Travelers’ Tales Cuba:

Swivel your hips with Stephanie Elizondo Griest as she dances with Havana’s mistress of rumba
Pick up hitchhikers with Dave Eggers and meet the starting center for the Cuban women’s national basketball team
Feel the heartbeat of Cuba on late night musical excursions with Henry Shukman
Learn the Cuban secret to life making the most of what you have with Cristina Garcia
Join Patrick Symmes on his search for the Ernesto "Che" Guevara legend
Glimpse the quirks, charm, and creativity of Cubans on an unusal bus ride with Eduardo Galeano... and much more.

About this title

From Library Journal:

Since it is illegal for U.S. citizens to vacation in Cuba (you need to have a journalistic, cultural, or educational purpose), for many this new book in the popular "Travelers' Tales" series may just be the next best thing. Sit back and enjoy the true tales of old Havana, of vivacious women in Spandex and the sultry men who appreciate them. Then bike across the island from east to west, trek the sites where the revolution began, tour the Isle of Youth (formally a prison center), or relax along the beaches of the north coast. In this 38-essay volume, whose contributors include such noted writers as Pico Iyer, James Michener, and Christina Garcia, the good times are skillfully balanced with the bad. Editor Miller, the author of the acclaimed Trading with the Enemy: A Yankee Travels Through Castro's Cuba, has intermingled here the essays on Cuba's rich cultural heritage with those dealing with its complex and still turbulent political system. The only complaint is that at times it seems as if the endings to these fascinating stories come too soon. Recommended for all public and academic libraries. Lee Arnold, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

In Travelers' Tales Cuba: True Stories, editor Tom Miller (Trading with the Enemy) has gathered 38 essays by Western ex-pats, Cuban exiles and travelers of all stripes, including Cristina García, Pico Iyer, James Michener, Andrei Codrescu and Robert Stone. Novelist Elisio Alberto recollects his 1970s stint at the magazine Cuba Internacional, "a real Gothic cave where chance had gathered together twelve or thirteen madmen who were not afraid of anybody or anything, not even of daydreaming, perhaps the bravest thing of all in this most extraordinary world designed by God or the Devil." From his rental car, Dave Eggars comes to understand something of Cubans' reality: "That becomes the point it had not been the plan at the outset but now is the mission, one thrust upon us the picking up of people, because, as we learn soon enough, the most common roadside scenery in Cuba, besides the horse-drawn wagons and broken-down classic American cars, is its hitchhikers."

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Travelers' Tales
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1932361103
• ISBN 13: 9781932361100
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 328
• Editor: Miller Tom