Conversations With Cuba

by Ripley, C. Peter; Shacochis, Bob

• ISBN13: 9780820323022
• ISBN10: 0820323020
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr

Summary

This sympathetic, street-level pilgrimage through a revolutionary society in transition is the story of a passionate, struggling, sometimes discouraged but always proud country, told by citizens whose confidence in their revolution is both enduring and conflicted. Located in the "special period," that ambiguous time in the 1990s characterized by the end of the Soviet Union's aid to Cuba, a tightening of the U.S. embargo, and Cuba's search for economic salvation through tourism, Ripley's narrative recounts his six trips to Cuba between 1991 and 1999. We come to know, among many citizens eager to help a foreigner understand their passions and their suffering, Roberto, with his trust in the idea of an ongoing Cuban revolution; Neddie, a teacher whose early confidence is chipped away; and Paulo, a college student turned "fixer" who becomes Ripley's guide and friend. Book jacket.

Author Biography

C. Peter Ripley lives in northern Florida. Conversations with Cuba is his ninth book.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Bob Shacochis
Acknowledgments	xvii
Batista's Vase	xix
REVOLUTION AND TOURISM May 1991
Gettin' Inside	3	(16)
Necessary Rules	19	(16)
Playa Giron	35	(11)
Casa Grande Hotel	46	(13)
Benedictions	59	(10)
THE SPECIAL PERIOD July 1992
Resolviendo	69	(21)
26th of July	90	(17)
FOOD AND DOLLARS December 1994
Dollars	107	(14)
Paulo and Neddie	121	(16)
FORMS AND TRADITIONS September 1995
Fathers and Sons	137	(12)
Things Held in Common	149	(7)
Seeking Santiago	156	(8)
Known in Santiago	164	(9)
Following Fidel	173	(10)
In Search of Saints	183	(12)
GOLD AND SCANDALS May 1997
Havana Gold	195	(8)
A Good Life	203	(16)
Acts of Public Scandal	219	(9)
Neddie and Luisa	228	(7)
Epilogue: July 1999	235	(9)
Second Epilogue: July 2000	244