First published 2018
Cuba sits ninety miles from American shores, long forbidden to most US citizens. Now diplomatic ties resume after fifty-six years of standoff. Twelve acclaimed writers examine this moment of transition from multiple angles. Carlos Manuel Álvarez reflects on growing up in the final generation raised under Fidel Castro. Patricia Engel chronicles how Havana has shifted through years of taxi rides with a local driver friend. Jon Lee Anderson, who accompanied President Obama on his historic visit, writes about experiencing Cuba as an outsider during the Special Period. Francisco Goldman revisits the Tropicana nightclub across decades. Leonardo Padura explores Cuban baseball as national obsession. The collection moves beyond familiar images of classic cars, cigar-smoking rebels, and Buena Vista Social Club to reveal deeper currents of change. These writers stand on both sides of the cultural divide, documenting how Cuba transforms from within and without as the island opens to new possibilities.
Genres: biography-memoir, 21st-century, cultural-studies, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: cultural-divide, outsider-perspective
Setting: Cuba, Havana, Tropicana
Period: Special Period, Obama Administration
304 pages · Paperback · EccoPress