Customer Reviews

CUBA: The Special Period

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I have read Marcia Friedman's beautiful book titled "CUBA: The Special Period" from cover to cover and was totally captivated. As an artist, art dealer and art appraiser for over 30 years, I have seen many wonderful books and Marcia Friedman's publication stands out in my mind among the best. The quality of the photography, text and printing make it outstanding.

When I ordered this book, I expected a photography book of photographs taken throughout Cuba in the nineties. I did not expect a heavy-handed, one-sided anti-Castro dissertation. The photographs are heavily documented with this sort of commentary. The last chapter in the book does not contain photographs at all - it is a collection of essays, all from members of the Cuba exile community. The photographs themselves are of professional quality (they are certainly better than mine), but the subject matter is extremely limited. The vast majority are of buildings, transportation, and street scenes in Havana and Santiago de Cuba. I expected more variety and a bit more imagination in the choice of subject matter. If you do not want to support the political agenda put forth by this extremely prejudicial account, I do not recommend this book. There are lots of more interesting and truly informative books about Cuba.

I read Marcia's book and thought that the pictures were great and the essays from Exiles were extremely interesting and enlightening. As an American, never being in Cuba, I felt I was personally taken on an amazing journey. I highly recommend this book to everyone. I especially loved the poetic way in which each picture was linked. It was very well done.