This is a memoir of a woman from Australia who spent three months biking around Cuba. She is not a gifted writer, but she is good, and her account of the people she met, the atmosphere she encountered, the pitfalls that befell her, and the best parts of her journey are well worth reading if you are contemplating a trip to the island in the the next decade. The stories ring true for me (I will have further reflections once I have the chance to be there myself and think about how it relates to my own encounters), and while it is not the peak of optimism, it is balanced and fair. Lynn is not coming at travel from the swoop in and swoop out tourist angle--she is traveling on a budget--not like a Cuban, mind you, but she bargains for her accommodations and food, and she is not above going hungry, or walking away from being taking advantage of. Her story made me think that it was possible to get through the trip without necessarily becoming horribly ill. The book tells some wonderful stories about people who are making do in a climate that is forgiving, but with very little available to them outside of what is actually grown and made there. The world in Cuba is decidedly not flat.
Catherine,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for reading my book. Helps to keep it in print! Aye, a gifted writer I'm not, just someone who likes to say what I see with minimal Splendacoating. In fact, no artifical sweetener at all ... I appreciated you didn't expect a coffee table book vision of Cuba (Buena Vista and all that) because I guess I wasn't loitering in all the right places ... or maybe I was. Would love you to add your name to my little Facebook page for people who've read it. http://www.facebook.com/handsomestmanincuba
- actually, 12,000 copies were sold, and there are 47 people on the page. Nice to know they liked it!
Muchas gracias, and I'll try that Cuban sandy recipe as soon as I get over my current Bahn mi addiction.
Lynette Chiang aka www.galfromdownunder.com
Lynette
www.galfromdownunder.com
Lynnette--As I prove in this blog, I am not a gifted writer either, but there is fun in writing about life as we know it, no? I enjoyed your book both before I went to Cuba, and in retrospect it was even more valuable in preparing me for what I was seeing! Of course you can add me to your Facebook page.
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