Description
Book SynopsisFocuses on the extensive changes that have taken place in Cuba since 1993, when Castro legalized the dollar, with essays including transformations in the economy, religious life, the literary world, ballet, and hip hop.
Trade Review“
Capitalism, God, and a Good Cigar addresses in an original and insightful way the question so many have asked themselves for so long: how is it that Fidel Castro and his regime are approaching half a century in power under extremely adverse conditions, many of them of their own making? This book may not provide the answer, but it offers many answers, all of them intelligent and imaginative.”—Jorge Castañeda, Global Distinguished Professor of Politics and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University and former foreign minister of Mexico
“
Capitalism, God, and a Good Cigar is engagingly written, nuanced, sensitive in political perspective, and innovative and broad-ranging in its choice of subject matter. This freewheeling and intimate account of life in Cuba today gives a close-up view of the rapid-fire changes overtaking the island, from the new economy to Internet access to issues of freedom of speech to Cuban ballet. It provides a welcome, fresh perspective that goes far beyond what American audiences tend to hear about Cuba.”—Aviva Chomsky, Professor of History and Coordinator of Latin American Studies at Salem State College and coeditor of
The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics"[A] sense of immediacy, of whispered truths, of possible spies permeate this round-up of voices. . . . Lydia Chavez's reporters and assistants have amassed plenty of evidence, in vivid journalese, that lets the reader work out what will happen when Castro lets go of the tight reins." -- Jason Wilson * TLS *
"Accented by beautifully evocative photographs by Mimi Chakarova of this most photogenic of lands, the book is a collection of first-person investigations into a terrifically wide array of social strata on the island and in its diaspora. The earnest essays included . . . all share the virtue of putting individual Cubans at the center of the story, in letting the voices, stories and lives of their subjects determine their content and conclusions. . . . One of the most useful and nuanced portraits of contemporary life on the island in years." -- Joshua Jelly-Schapiro * San Francisco Chronicle *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Adrift: An Introduction to Contemporary Cuba / Lydia Chavez 1
Part I: Inventing
The New Cuban Capitalist / Juliana Barbassa 17
The Old Cuban Cadre: Four Women Survive Manzanillo / Alicia Roca 31
Trinidad: Life on the Margins / Julian Foley 45
Part 2: Breathing
Hip Hop Pushes the Limits / Annelise Wunderlich 65
Authors Who Knew or Know the Limits / Ezequiel Minaya 78
Dancers Who Stretch the Limits / Ana Campoy 95
Interlude: A Photo Essay / Mimi Chakarova 110
Part 3: Surviving
True Believers / Olga R. Rodriguez 131
Socialism and the Cigar / Daniela Mohor 147
Cubans Log On behind Castro's Back / John Cote 160
Part 4: Searching
The New Immigrants Don't Hate Fidel / Archana Pyati 177
The Spanish Are Back / Megan Lardner 191
God, Babalawos, and Castro / Bret Sigler 207
Son de Camaguey / Angel Gonzalez 222
Suggested Reading 235
Contributors 241
Index 243
