Ay, Cuba!: A Socio-Erotic Journey, by Andrei Codrescu
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Ay, Cuba!: A Socio-Erotic Journey, by Andrei Codrescu
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A rare and intimate glimpse at life in Cuba at the end of the twentieth century For NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu, reporting from Cuba on the eve of Pope John Paul II’s 1998 visit was an opportunity to understand the realities of life in a country that has long been the subject of stereotypes and misconceptions. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba was the last place to witness a “laboratory of pre-post-communism,” as it toed the line between its socialist past and its uncertain future. On the streets of Havana and the beaches of Santiago de Cuba, Codrescu met people from all walks of life—from prostitutes and fortunetellers to bureaucrats and writers—eager to share their stories. Uncensored and compassionate, his interviews reveal a world where destruction and beauty, poverty and pride exist side by side. Traveling with photographer David Graham, whose powerful images illustrate the energy pulsing through everyday life in Cuba, Codrescu captures the humanity of a nation that is lost when it’s reduced to a political symbol. With the United States resuming relations with Cuba for the first time in decades, Ay,Cuba! is more relevant now than ever before.
Ay, Cuba!: A Socio-Erotic Journey, by Andrei Codrescu- Amazon Sales Rank: #309182 in eBooks
- Published on: 2015-05-19
- Released on: 2015-05-19
- Format: Kindle eBook
Amazon.com Review When Romanian exile and National Public Radio commentator Andrei Codrescu was given an assignment by his producer to travel to Cuba just before the pope's historic visit in 1998, he jumped at the chance. Cuba had been on his mind for years as part of his pursuit to understand the mysterious demise of Communism in Eastern Europe. Castro's Cuba, he felt, was the only place that held the clues to this demise; it was a "laboratory of pre-post-communism" where he could witness "a decomposing ideology before all its elements transmuted into the noxious gases that gag Eastern Europe now."
Together with documentary photographer David Graham, Codrescu went on a 13-day journey, and he encountered warm, affectionate, hospitable people. What surprised Codrescu and Graham most about the Cubans was their candor: They spoke of their nation with a mix of pride, hopelessness, and amusement--a major contrast to Codrescu's experience in post-Communist Romania back in 1989. The two met and interviewed a broad range of artists, architects, prostitutes, and members of the working class. They also met some international celebrities, such as baseball player and recent defector El Duque Hérnandez.
Codrescu's lively, at times irreverent and comical narration and Graham's expressive photos evoke the passion, culture, economics, and politics that shape the nation. Ay, Cuba! is an enlightening and important book, made more urgent by Codrescu's indelible and fully realized portrait of the twilight of Fidel Castro's 40-year reign, one that shatters the politically constructed, media-perpetuated American myths so carefully ingrained in our conscience since the cold war. --Kera Bolonik
From Publishers Weekly National Public Radio commentator and house cynic Codrescu escaped communist Romania at age 19 and has had few kind words for the Soviet system since. Who better, then, to suss out the condition of the great bearded Red and his country? "I wanted to go to Cuba," writes Codrescu, "because I wanted to see for myself a decomposing ideology." The book takes the form of an ironic travelogue-cum-report from the front. Cuba?still embargoed by the United States but bereft of its former benefactor, the Soviet Union?has been forced to transform its entire economy into a black-market haven for Western tourists. Fidel Castro turns a blind eye to all the Yanquis in his midst, maintaining his revolutionary fervor while his people starve, flee or hustle a buck. Codrescu and his gang?a photographer, an NPR producer and a former Nicaraguan revolutionary?encounter street hustlers, prostitutes, visionary bureaucrats, Santeria practitioners, good and bad food, plenty of cigars and lots of rum as they peel away the Travel & Leisure veneer to discover the real Cuba. Each chapter is prefaced with an "exquisite corpse," a surreal group poem, composed by the members of the party; these, along with the photographs, and the stories of the many Cuban women he encounters, particularly a doctor whom he romances for a day (hence the subtitle), add considerable immediacy to the story (which was originally reported on NPR). Codrescu turns out to be more sympathetic, although no less cutting, than one might expect. He admits that "I still have an irrational nostalgia for Stalinism," which he describes as "a puppy-warm lie spread over everything like a perfumed shroud over a maggoty corpse." B&w and color photos. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal The once idyllic island of Cuba stands as the world's last true stronghold of communism. On the eve of Pope John Paul II's visit in January 1998, CodrescuApoet, novelist, essayist, Louisiana State University English professor, and National Public Radio commentatorAspent 12 days with a team from NPR interviewing and photographing Cubans from all walks of life, from artists and administrators to hustlers and working people. The result is a lively, tragicomic look at Cuba, enriched by insights gleaned from Codrescu's own experience with communism in his native Romania. Although the book starts slowly, its view of contemporary Cuba is important, especially in light of President Clinton's early 1999 decision to increase contact with the Cuban people. The photographs are too often posed but do provide vivid visual representation of Cuba's poverty. Nowhere is Cuba's plight more aptly stated than in Codrescu's own description of the nation, "poised precariously between the lost utopia and the unpolished hustle." Recommended for public and academic libraries.ABoyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., ALCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful. Shallow, disrespectful but funny at the same time By A Customer 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
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful. Funny writer, pedestrian photographer By Charles Desmarais 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.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful. A Bird's-eye view of Cuba By A Customer There is much to admire about this book. The photo's are interesting (if unspectacular) and Codrescu's take on Cuba is unique, given his Romanian communist background. But this is very much a book of "impressions," not scholarship. The author repeats erroneous cliches about Cuba (about how homosexuals are treated, for one -- see "Machos, Maricones, and Gays: Cuba and Homosexuality) without ever explaining or exploring them. He spends too much time on the colorful surface, i.e. santeria, cigars, all the available "pu**y." On the other hand, he's a talented writer, so if you've never been to Cuba and are planning to go, "Ay, Cuba" is not a bad place to start.
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