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This Is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives [Hardcover]

Ben Corbett (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: Oct 16 2002
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.

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Product Description

From Library Journal

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.

Review

"Let it be said immediately that "This Is Cuba is quite simply the best, the most complete, and most devastating portrait of that unfortunate country to be found in any language." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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First Sentence
"Rico mani! Rosita rica!" At the Payret theater on the corner of Prado Avenue and San Jose, an old woman drifts past, drawling out the tired vowels, her hand wrapped around a dozen cucuruchos, white paper cones of fresh roasted peanuts, as if she were clasping a bouquet of fragrant white mariposas. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars This is Cuba Nov 14 2002
By Ron Fletcher
Format:Hardcover
From the wealth of descriptive detail and the depth of his insights into Cuban life, it is obvious that Ben Corbett went far beyond the typical American journalist's two-week taxi tour of the island. Corbett has put in the time and the miles to take the reader into the streets, homes and minds of the Cuban people. The book is a cultural immersion that chips away our American preconceptions about Cuba. It presents an extremely illuminating portrait of the island that will probably disturb anyone whose view on Cuba is either glib or set in political stone. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the poor quality of the printing; most of the photos are more like ink blobs than images. Other than that, I highly recommend it. Someone should send a copy to Bush.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A gritty, realistic look at modern Cuba Oct 29 2002
By Elena Lombardi
Format:Hardcover
All I can say is Wow! I'm blown away. This is a disillusioning book on life in modern Cuba that tells it exactly like it is. It's raw, engaging, and daringly unbiased in its analysis. Forget everything you've ever heard or read about Cuba. This one undermines it all, and does so with incredible detail. I felt like I was right there in Havana, hanging out with the Buena Vista Social Club, buying rice in the black market, and meeting the people in the book face to face. As a fine arts professor and Latin arts trader, I've been to Cuba four times in the past year. I have a voracious appetite for anything Cuban. However, nothing has managed to spin my head around like this book. I couldn't put it down, and many things I thought I understood about Cuba have been shattered. I hate you Corbett!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A book which NAILS the Cubano condition May 27 2004
By Kurt Swenson
Format:Hardcover
I will make this brief. I spent a few months travelling in Cuba, doing my best to stay away from Castro's state sponsored tourist complexes so that I could experience the true face of Cuba.

This book captures that true face. In all it's glories, trials, and tribulations. In all its miracles. If you want to understand Cuba, and the conditions under which the average Cuban lives, you can do two things: go down there and spend a month living in the barrio, amongst the people, and you can read this book, in which Ben Corbett has already done this living for you.

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Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Cuba: Good and Bad
I visited Cuba in March 1997 and have always been drawn back to books that allow me to vicariously revisit the country. Read more
Published on Feb 27 2004 by Andrew Desmond
3.0 out of 5 stars The truth is somewhere in the middle - this book isn't!
This book is certainly an intertaining read but it is clear that the author is biaised from the start, offering only one side of the coin. Read more
Published on Dec 15 2003 by Alain Lemay
5.0 out of 5 stars Por fin la verdad
Read this book, the best book written about Cuba.
Published on Oct 5 2003 by "celestemontero"
5.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend this book.
Mr. Corbett has written a gem of a book. Although not perfect, his book captures the unique combination of hope, happiness, tyranny, and desperation faced by Cubans today and... Read more
Published on July 17 2003
4.0 out of 5 stars Great narrative that lacks great research
Free lance writer Ben Corbett in his recent book This is Cuba provides a fascinating first-person account of life for the average citizen in economically strapped Cuba. Read more
Published on Jun 18 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars Essence of daily life and thoughts of Cubans
This book captures the essence of "cubanidad" or what it means to live and think in Cuba. The pages are filled with a variety of examples that draws the reader into... Read more
Published on May 23 2003 by Havana Journal
5.0 out of 5 stars Lifting the veil
Anyone who harbors romantic notions about Fidel Castro's Cuba might be disturbed, perhaps even angered by Ben Corbett's book, for he shows very clearly how it is that the so-called... Read more
Published on May 13 2003 by Carlos Eire
2.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IS A WASTE.
I have been to Cuba a number of times and the Cuba I met was unrecognizable from this book. Ben Corbett seems to have taken American middle class expectations with him to judge a... Read more
Published on April 19 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars Telling it like it is
Mr. Corbett's absorbing and insightful look at today's Cuban culture removes (one hopes forever) the veil of romanticism and misguided mystique with which other writers have... Read more
Published on April 12 2003 by O. F. Diaz-Duque
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read except for Spanish editing
Taking off one full star due to horrible editing of Spanish by the publisher. Otherwise a very enjoyable read that vividly portrays the daily life of the avg. Cuban. Read more
Published on Feb 26 2003 by Sir_Reads_A_Lot
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