Description
Book SynopsisAn impressionistic look at the life, death, and legacy of Che Guevera by the renowned feminist poet and activist Margaret Randall.
Trade Review“Hundreds of books have been written about Che; the facts are documented, the myth celebrated. But with, as she calls it, ‘the intuition of a poet,’ Randall has created something unique – a compelling personal contemplation, an exploration of ‘the intimacy that has stayed with me all these years.’” -- Robert Woltman * Albuquerque Journal *
“A well-written, brief reflection on Guevara and his time that will interest historians and social theorists.” -- Boyd Childress * Library Journal *
“[A] series of reflections that alternately encompass personal reminiscence, biography, political analysis, nuggets of historical information, feminist hindsight and even poetry. . . . As with any good conversation, this book leaves the reader stimulated and enlightened with new questions to ponder. . . . We are simply listeners, treated to a very rich personal rendition of [Randall’s] own private tune of Che on my mind.” -- Sheyla Hirshon * Havana Times *
"If you have not been thinking about Che, now you will. Our gifted poet, feminist author, and revolutionary thinker has given us a spare and ethical meditation on the lingering life and death of Ernesto Che Guevara. . . .
Che on My Mind will invigorate and deepen your own thinking." -- Bernardine Dohrn * Monthly Review *
“
Che On My Mind stands not only as an arresting discussion of an enigmatic historical figure, but also as a testament to Randall’s own ability to fuse the observations of anti-imperialism and feminism into a formidable political and cultural concoction.”
-- Nick Witham * LSE Review of Books *
"This beautifully written reminiscence is 'the intution of a poet' . . . Such familiarity with Cuba and the guerrillas may not be unique among the innumerable writers on the century's best-known and perhaps most admired guerrillero, but no others have brought such sensitivity to the task." -- David Kunzle * The Americas *
“
Che on My Mind is a 160-page tour-de-force in which, with her poetic and visual sensibility, she considers Che Guevara's life and legacy. The slim tome is also a meditation on how her own beliefs on revolution have changed, a prose poem on the vicissitudes of protest, courage, and the tricks of time.”
-- Jenny McPhee * Bookslut *
“If you only read one book about Che Guevara, this is the book that I strongly recommend. . . . Perhaps only a poet could capture the complexities of the life, lives, myth and myths of Che. . . . [I]n the able and creative capacities of Margaret Randall, the many verses of Che's life are woven into an epic poem.” -- Budd Hall * Left History *
“Part biography, part memoir, and part philosophical reflection on the relationship between means and ends in political activism,
Che on My Mind is a slim yet refreshingly self-reflective (and beautifully assembled) collection of stories, analysis, and memoir. . . . It is a notably thin volume, yet meant to be read—I would think—not in a single sitting but slowly, with ample time to digest and ponder the interweaving of personal history with meditations on an era that is simultaneously growing distant and historical, yet whose connections, via the continued reproduction of Che iconography and the longevity of the Cuban revolution itself, now more place than state of mind, remain ever present.” -- Eric Zolov * EIAL *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
1. A Death That Leads Us Back to Life 1
2. In Cuba, Where Our Lives Came Together in the Everyday 11
3. Multiple Prisms 19
4. Conflicting Versions 29
5. "Socialism and Man in Cuba" 35
6. Tender Heart and Rigorous Moral Code 43
7. Empowerment of the Erotic 51
8. How the Man Was Made 59
9. Che and Fidel 67
10. Che and Haydée 75
11. Exercising Power, Exercising Solidarity 87
12. The Question without an Answer 95
13. War and Peace 99
14. Revolution and Religion 115
15. Che's Legacy for Today's Activists 125
16. Poetry Closes the Circle and Opens Infinite Circles 133
Notes 139
Bibliography 147
