Cuba: Singing With Bright Tears [SIGNED FIRST EDITION]

Beahan, Virginia; Anderson, Jon Lee; Iyer, Pico

Published by Pond Press, Brooklyn, New York, 2009

About this Item

As new condition oversized (13 inches wide, 11 inches tall) olive cloth boards with blue spine lettering contained in an as new condition color photographic dust jacket. Includes Preliminary Page Quote and Acknowledgments. Profusely illustrated with color photographs and map illustrated color front and rear endpapers. The upper right corner of the jacket front contains a 2 inch by 2 inch sticker stating: "Signed by the Author". Signed by the author/photographer, Virginia Beahan with black marker/Sharpie at the lower section of the obverse of the first free front endpaper. The lower right corner of the second front endpaper (the page with the preliminary page quote) contains a red maker neatly scripted Christmas gift inscription vintage Dec. 2010. "Cuba first captured my imagination when I visited my father in Miami in 1986. His neighborhood, known as Little Havana, was a fascinating place: Spanish-speaking families living in bright pastel bungalows with doors and windows framed by ornate wrought-iron grillwork; teenage girls in elaborate flounced dresses passing by on their way to a quinceanera celebration; corner coffee bars serving "shooters," tiny cups of espresso that men drank standing up; Latin music, loud and lively, blaring from cars and shops; and roosters crowing, breaking the sultry pre-dawn somnolence of a new day. This was American city living unlike anything I had previously experienced. The stories I began hearing from the neighbors I met included painful tales of flight from Castro's Cuba. Children had been sent away to live with relatives or friends, families were torn apart by political differences, homes were abandoned and fortunes lost. I also met many young Cuban-Americans with promising careers and hopeful futures; their "Spanglish" was a linguistic testimonial to the mingling of cultures. I was struck by the resilience and vivacity of these people, as well as their anger at the effects of the 1959 Revolution. In 2001, I had the opportunity to travel to Cuba, and I was instantly drawn to the surprising landscape of this country. I began to photograph the physical topography of an island scattered with remnants of its tumultuous history. I was amazed to see how visible the Revolution still is, literally written on the land in words and images. Lartger-than-life figures of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos rise above luminous fields of sugar cane and dusty country roads, and the words of Jose Marti are ever present, as is his serene countenance in virtually every garden and courtyard. More nuanced narratives are to be found among the vacant shops and battered shorelines of a country whose aspirations were, and will continue to be, shaped by its closest neighbor to the north. Our relationship with Cuba has been a long and complicated one. The Cubans I spoke with were baffled by American policy and attitudes toward their country. One man asked me quietly, "Don't the Americans care about us? Don't they want to help us be friends with the United States?" There was no way to tell him that most Americans don't think about Cuba at all." - from the introductory essay entitled Written on the Land by co-author and photographer Virginia Beahan. Seller Inventory # 006671

Bibliographic Details

Title: Cuba: Singing With Bright Tears [SIGNED ...

Publisher: Pond Press, Brooklyn, New York

Publication Date: 2009

Binding: Hardcover

Illustrator: Beahan, Virginia (photography)

Condition: As New

Dust Jacket Condition: As New

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition