Dear Mr. Gomez,Just a quick word of thanks for lifting the banner of truth through your efforts at the Cuban-American Pundits blog. Great work. I've linked to your site before but reading through your posts again tonight, I know I must do so more often. Again, thank you for your efforts in behalf of freedom and justice.
I do have a question -- I'm re-reading Armando Valladares' Against All Hope and encouraging others to follow suit but I'm wondering what your recommendations might be for other books about Cuba. In addition to history and political commentary, I'm also interested in any fiction that might appropriately deal with Cuba's plight since I have opportunities to suggest novels and plays to several book clubs as well as the visitors to The Book Den. I'd appreciate any ideas you might have in this regard.
Denny Hartford
Director, Vital Signs Ministries
Denny,
First of all, thanks for the compliments. I don't deserve them. Now as to your questions. Most of the books I read on Cuba are of a political or historical nature. However, I would certainly recommend Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire. It's a memoir of the Cuban Revolution through the eyes of a young boy. It's very entertaining and heart-warming.
Another book that I have recently read (but is not available in the U.S. yet, but should be soon) is Child of the Revolution by the Cuban-Australian author Luis M. Garcia. He has a blog by the same name that I have linked to in my blogroll. You can buy his book from some Australian booksellers that ship to the U.S. It's similar to Eire's book in that it's told through the eyes of a boy, but Mr. Garcia was born in 1959, the year Castro came to power, so he never knew a pre-castro Cuba.Of course, I also recommend the DVDs and books on the sidebar of my blog. One book you may want to consider is Three Trapped Tigers by Guillermo Cabrera Infante. It's the book that the Andy Garcia movie "The Lost City" is based on.
One of the historical books I recommend is The Winds of December by Dorschner and Fabricio. It's an old book that's out of print but used copies can still be found on Amazon. It basically documents the events right before Castro took power in a very readable way. It's written almost like a novel.
If I think of any others I'll get back to you.
Best regards,
Henry Louis Gomez
Editor: http://CubanAmericanPundits.com
Contributor: http://BabaluBlog.com
Author/Editor: http://TrenBlindado.com
