This Is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives - Hardcover

Corbett, Ben

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813338263 ISBN 13: 9780813338262

Publisher: Basic Books, 2002

Synopsis

Beyond the throngs of tourists streaming through Central Havana's broad Prado Avenue, and outside the yoke of Castro's 43-year-old Revolutionary program, there exists a parallel Cuba – a separate evolution of a people struggling to survive. With personal stories that depict a people torn between following the directives of their government and finding a way to better their lot, journalist Ben Corbett gives us the daily life of many considered outlaws by Castro's regime. But are they outlaws or rather ingenious survivors of what many Cubans consider to be a forty-year mistake, a tangle of contradictions that have led to a stable instability?At a time when Cuba precariously walks on the ledge between socialism and capitalism, This is Cuba gets to the heart of this so-called outlaw culture, bringing readers into the living rooms, rooftops, parks, and city streets to listen to stories of frustration, hope, and survival.

About this title

About the Author

Ben Corbett is a freelance journalist who has spent several years researching and writing almost exlusively on Cuban culture, politics, and economics. Some of his features on Cuba have appeared in Salon , Tattoo Magazine , Easyriders , Fringe Golf , and Relix . He lives in Colorado.

Reviews

With its provocative subtitle, freelance journalist Corbett's new book on Cuba certainly is not sponsored by the Cuban department of tourism. Nor is it a treatise from the Miami exile community. Rather, it is an honest, behind-the-scenes look at everyday Cubans dealing with life and survival. They are pawns in the great chess game between two looming ideologies: the capitalist United States, which never recognized the legitimacy of the Cuban Revolution, and the Socialist government under Castro, which is determined to continue the struggle. These ordinary folk spend an inordinate amount of time trying to make ends meet and stretch their meager resources (and ration books) from month to month. Where contrary political expression is dangerous, they resist in subtler ways: buying or selling goods on the black market, making illegal money off the tourist trade, or even getting tattoos. More daring Cubans take to the seas. Yet perhaps Fidel's stubbornness and belief in Cubanidad ("Cubaness") has paid off in an unintentional way. "They are now prepared to defend Cuba's destiny," concludes Corbett of Cubans. "And in the preparedness, perhaps Castro achieved the greatest victory of all." Recommended for all large academic and public libraries.
Lee Arnold, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813338263
• ISBN 13: 9780813338262
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304