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Summary: A Middle-Aged Jerk Takes a Jaunt to the Tropics
Review: Andrei Codrescu, scarcely conversant in Spanish, spent 12 days in Cuba, screwed an impoverished young woman, and fancied himself an expert.Garnering his knowledge of Cuba from worn-out comparisons to his homeland of Romania and a pal's tales of sweet love with adolescent girls, Codrescu heads to Cuba with his opinions of the island well-formed. While there he eats at fancy restaurants presumably discovered vis-a-vis his Lonely Planet guidebook, drinks nothing but mojitos, and generally lives the shallow tourist experience. Twelve days later he returns to his cushy life as an NPR commentator with a sullied soul and no true knowledge of the enigma that is Cuba. Redeemingly, Ay, Cuba! is veritably well-written, with witty phrasing, and enough sexist, enraging material to keep the pages flying.
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Summary: Very enjoyable and witty.
Review: Both my wife and I read this book and recommend it highly. The book is informative and insightful. It gave us a glimpse of life in communist Cuba. The characters are as colorful as Cuba itself and the author does an excellent job of assimilating into the culture yet filtering the propaganda emanating from the Cuban political machinery.
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Summary: a book about the real Cuba, free of ideological blinders
Review: Codrescu and Graham's splendid, intimate book on Cuba is sure to enrage narrow minds on both the left and the right. Codrescu had no sympathy for the dictator, but loves the Cuban people. The Cuban people have no sympathy for the dictator either, and they respond most warmly to the poet's interest in them. Cuba is a sexy land and Cubans are sensual people. Most commentators ignore this reality, but Codrescu doesn't shy from it. The result is a tropical, sensual book that speaks about Cuba's political, social, and erotic truth with intelligence, wit, and passion.
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Summary: dynamic synthesis of wry text and insightful photographs
Review: Codrescu has revealed present day Cubans as only an iron curtain expatriate can. His erotic encounter with a intellectual and his interview with baseballer Ivan (El Duke) Hernandez a few days before he defected- were worth the price of the book alone. David Graham's touching photographs avoid cliches and give us glimpses of the dignity under pressure so characteristic of Cubans today. Although I have frequently travelled in Cuba, including last year when I visited San Juan Hill and the wrecks of the Viscaya and the Pluton (sunk in 1898), I could see, taste and smell Cuba again in these pages. -Al Gowan, author of Santiago Rag, a novel of the Spanish-Cuban-American war, also available at Amazon.com
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Summary: Shallow, disrespectful but funny at the same time
Review: Codrescu is a good writer with a wonderful sense of humor but, MAN, does he have strong opinions for somebody who spent less than two weeks in the country. His intensely anti-communist bias can be an obstacle at times, yet overall his opinions are a refreshing balance to the generally pro-Castro intellectual line on Cuba. The photographs are perfectly fine as travel pix, but offer few insights into the culture or people of Cuba.
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Summary: Funny writer, pedestrian photographer
Review: Codrescu is a good writer with a wonderful sense of humor but, MAN, does he have strong opinions for somebody who spent less than two weeks in the country. His intensely anti-communist bias can be an obstacle at times, yet overall his opinions are a refreshing balance to the generally pro-Castro intellectual line on Cuba. The photographs are perfectly fine as travel pix, but offer few insights into the culture or people of Cuba.
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Summary: Castro biography raises doubts
Review: Codrescu may have a feel for some aspects of the Cuban scene, but he hasn't done his homework very well when it comes to Fidel. The author unfortunately repeats the old and inaccurate tale that Fidel was a major league pitching prospect (Fidel pitched in high school, but never at the University of Havana and was never offered a professional contract) and in this version even suggests a 1956 big-league tryout. Did Fidel hurl for scouts while in the Sierra Maestre? Did Che also show his stuff to big league scouts? The repeating of such a groundless fairy tale about Fidel raises serious questions about the historical accuracy of the remainder of the author's Cuban accounts. Peter C. Bjarkman, Author of "Smoke: The Romance and Lore of Cuban Baseball" (1999).
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Summary: NPR Commentator Unsympathetic to Cuba's Struggle with Uncle
Review: Codrescu, a regular NPR commentator gives us a curiously unsympathetic view of Castro's Cuba, in the days running up to the historic papal visit in January 99. Spending 13 days in Havana and Santiago de Cuba looking for trouble, he manages to find it. He mingles with hustlers, prostitutes, angry bureaucrats and non-sanctioned state writers and manages to hear what he wants to hear. He is almost upset when he can't find any exiles, whom he assumes are abundant. He turns down a meeting with a high-ranking government official. The only Castro "apologists" are dismissed as misguided (one disenchanted individual recently returned from Miami is labeled a "juvenile delinquent"). Given that Codrescu himself is a former exile from Ceauçescu's Romania, one can understand his rabidly anti-Communist stance. But citing his belief that Castro is in the twilight of his reign, the tiresome comparisons he makes between socialist Cuba and the Romania of his youth are rarely validated. Never one to sit back and watch the world pass by from his hotel room, Codrescu cannot be criticized for not leaping at the chance for confrontation. He manages to pack in plenty of adventures and finally (but somewhat reluctantly) acknowledges the warmth and generosity of the Cuban people. But after explaining the inequalities and corruption in the system (he doesn't mention the US embargo let alone blame it for even part of Cuba's plight), he then proceeds to take advantage and benefit from it, albeit with some pity. The inequalities of a duel economy (Cubans who have access to dollars and those that don't) is clearly one of Cuba's many problems. However, after pointing this out, Codrescu then thinks nothing of splashing out $250 on a box of cigars (that later turn out to be worth much less) and another $150 on a book of vintage cigar labels. But the main theme of the book is sex. His observations on the growing sex tourism in Cuba are highly disturbing. He delights in describing the noises of a Texan evangelist "cleansing the souls" of a different woman each night in his hotel room. The 53 year-old, overweight, Codrescu then sleeps with a prostitute whom he pays $100 (ten times the going rate, apparently). However, the self-professed anarchist poet does offer some interesting and thought-provoking insights into a fascinating country that many Americans still cannot visit. His deadpan humor and witty comments alone make this book worth reading. The photographs-sixteen pages in color-are disappointing. One series of shots taken from the same angle with various combinations of NPR personnel goofing off in front of a vintage Cadillac with cigars and sunglasses is really quite sad.
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Summary: Shallow, disrespectful but funny at the same time
Review: I have been traveling to Cuba about once every month and a half for the last 3 years and I find that that the 12 day journey of Mr. Codrescu wasn't enough for him or anyone to gain an insight about how the Cubans carry themselves and interact either with tourists or among themselves. Not enough to write a book about the subject. Not enough to give useful advice to future travelers, and certainly not enough to attempt to explain the complex and difficult situation experienced by the Cuban people everyday. His narrative is funny and some of his descriptions of the places he visited are accurate, but I wouldn't reccomend it as a travel guide, or as a resource to gather information about the people and their socio-economic situation. Take it as the journal of some guys who went to Cuba for 12 days and had some serious fun without doing any serious research and you'll have a fun read. For those interested in a more in-depth description of the situation and the Cuban people read Catherine Moses' Real Life in Castro's Cuba
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Summary: best Cuba travelogue ever
Review: I have had a passion for Cuba, Cuban books, and accounts of life on the island for three decades. I found "Ay, Cuba" to be the most engaging, sexiest book I ever read. Codrescu captures the flavors of the island, the warmth of the people, and the unfairness of the monstrous regime. Because of his Eastern European background, the author is able to see much deeper than most American writers. He encounters santeros, prostitutes, high-ranking Cubans, writers, and Americans in love with the Cuban mystique. There is also a spectacular interview with Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, the Yankee pitcher who helped win the World Series, just a few days before his defection. "Ay. Cuba: A Socio-Erotyic Journey" is a must for anyone interested in the island, its textures, flavors, sounds, and allure.
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