For those of you who knew me back in 2001, then you’ll know that I went on a trip to Cuba with my Freshman Seminar at UC Berkeley. We got a chance to spend a week in Havana, acting as researchers (us lowly undergrads at the time) for the grad students. I was the researcher for this piece, called Cyber Libre: Cubans Log On Behind CastroÕs Back.
There was talk that these would be put into a book, and it’s now finally happened.
It’s due to be released next month. The title is Capitalism, God, And a Good Cigar : Cuba Enters The Twenty-First Century.
Here’s the review from Auburn University Library:
Capitalism, God, and a Good Cigar: Cuba Enters the Twenty-First Century. Duke Univ. Jun. 2005. c.248p. ed. by Lydia Chavez. photogs. index. ISBN 0-8223-3482-8. $74.95; pap. ISBN 0-8223-3494-1. $21.95. INT AFFAIRS
Without question, this is the most revealing book available on Cuba today. Editor Chavez (journalism, Berkeley) brings together an unmatched array of contributors whose essays, read individually or together, paint a realistic picture of Cuba over the last ten years. Covering every aspect of Cuban life, from capitalism to literature to contemporary hip-hop culture, these vivid essays bring Cuban society into focus. As readers learn, racial issues underlie the entire Cuban fabric. In addition, beginning with the chase for American dollars after the decline in Soviet economic influence, Cuba has evolved into a capitalist society in a socialist nation. Thus, a chapter on the cigar industry reveals a decline in quality yet shows capitalism at work. Elsewhere, a look at computers and Internet access in Cuba shows just how far the regime goes to limit information. Perhaps the most telling comment on contemporary Cuba is a recent ban on smoking in public-in the world’s leading cigar-producing nation. Highly recommended for academic and larger public libraries.
-Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., AL
Here’s a collection of writings and photos (that I took) from our time there.
