Publish Date : 12/11/18
Author: David Ariosto
Started: 12/5/18
Finished: 12/8/18
Pages: 304
Rating : ⭐⭐⭐
I was sent an advanced readers copy to read and review this from Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press. All opinions are my own.
Goodreads Summary:
Fidel Castro is dead. Donald Trump was elected president. And to most outsiders, the fate of Cuba has never seemed more uncertain. Yet those who look close enough may recognize that signs of the next revolution are etched in plain view.
This is Cuba is a true story that begins in the summer of 2009 when a young American photo-journalist is offered the chance of a lifetime—a two-year assignment in Havana.
For David Ariosto, the island is an intriguing new world, unmoored from the one he left behind. From neighboring military coups, suspected honey traps, salty spooks, and desperate migrants to dissidents, doctors, and Havana’s empty shelves, Ariosto uncovers the island’s subtle absurdities, its Cold War mystique, and the hopes of a people in the throes of transition. Beyond the classic cars, salsa, and cigars lies a country in which black markets are ubiquitous, free speech is restricted, privacy is curtailed, sanctions wreak havoc, and an almost Kafka-esque goo of Soviet-style bureaucracy still slows the gears of an economy desperate to move forward.
But life in Cuba is indeed changing, as satellite dishes and internet hotspots dot the landscape and more Americans want in. Still, it’s not so simple. The old sentries on both sides of the Florida Straits remain at their posts, fists clenched and guarding against the specter of a Cold War that never quite ended, despite the death of Fidel and the hand-over of the presidency to a man whose last name isn’t Castro.
And now, a crisis is brewing.
In This Is Cuba, Ariosto looks at Cuba from the inside-out over the course of nine years, endeavoring to expose clues for what’s in store for the island as it undergoes its biggest change in more than half a century.
My Review:
I love reading about Cuba but have only done so in fictional stories. I do not read a ton of nonfiction but I love to learn. I picked up this book with expectations to learn a lot more about Cuba and the US but to be honest, I don’t know much about the US and Cuba. I’m a bit ignorant on the Cold War, The Bay of Pigs, and other actions we have had in the past that led us to the relationship we have now. At no fault to the author, I feel like I didn’t know enough about that history to understand Everything but it was still interesting enough to see to the dynamics between the islanders and our author, David. I learned a decent amount from this book but I took away how much the Cubans actually loved their country. There was a particular chapter about some Cubans that escaped Cuba and were living in Florida. Their reactions to the new country were astonishing and helped me recognize that it is important to not always assume that a group of people are suffering because they are living differently from your norm. It also helped me recall the age old adage “The grass is always greener…”.
If you’re looking for a quick nonfiction read, I suggest giving this a try. I really enjoyed it and I am interested in reading some more about this country I know so little about.
Read, Teach, Eat, Repeat 