Customer Reviews

Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus

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Talk about compelling and impressive personal journeys: in 1980, Mirta Ojito and her family fled Cuba as part of the Mariel Boatlift. A scant 20 years later, Ojito - then only 36 years old - was at the pinnacle of her profession, having won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting while at the New York Times. In "Finding Mañana" she expertly weaves together two gripping sagas: how her own family came to be at the docks that Spring of 1980; and how Mariel as a whole came to be. Far from simply a personal narrative, "Mañana" qualifies as investigative reporting of the highest order. Ms. Ojito tells a fascinating tale of behind the scenes intrigue as "the Cuban government sets in motion a plan far more sophisitated and sinister than a simple military assault." In fact, the events leading up to Mariel sound - for all intents and purposes - like Civil War had been unleashed inside of Cuba.

"Mañana" also serves as a good complement to other good reads about Cuba. For example, in Ann Louise Bardach's controversial "Cuban Confidential," we learn about the realiance Castro placed on confidante Celia Sanchez. So, it's enlightening to read Ojito's take on Mariel occurring shortly after Sanchez's death in January 1980: "Those closest to him knew that Castro had lost not only a friend and ally, but also his personal compass."

And, if you've read Reinaldo Arenas' "Before Night Falls," you have a feeling of glancing through the looking glass. Ojito makes reference to Castro's seeding the boatlift with those he deemed as his undesirables. In Julian Schnabel's excellent take of the book on film, a bewildered Arenas (played indelibly by Javier Bardem) is taken abruptly and unexpectedly to Mariel, Castro and his administration having decided to export his homosexuality and political activism.

Most of all, I recommend Ojito's book as a complement to my personal favorite, "Cuba Diaries : An American Housewife in Havana by Isadora Tattlin." Some people have sloughed off that work as prosaic, but I think it misses the point: this book captures the challenge carrying out day-to-day tasks in Cuba under Fidel.

Here's one example of Ojito's reporting and how informative and compelling it can be (this from an interview she had with one of Mariel's stateside protagonists, Napoleon Vilaboa):

"Give me a hug, chico, he said, and the two embraced. Vilaboa winced. Castro was smoking a cigar, and the aroma of the tobacco, which Vilaboa enjoyed, was mixed with the odor of rancid sweat, cognac and old coffee. Castro kept his olive green cap on, and Vilaboa noticed that it was very sweaty and stained. Vilaboa wondered how long he had been wearing the same uniform. How long since he had taken a nap, or a bath?"

If you're like me, you find that type of revelation fascinating. And, if so, "Finding Mañana" is a must read for you.

This is a personal account of the hardships of life in Fidel Castro's Cuba that led to the boatlift of May 1980 when over 125,000 people escaped to the U.S. It is a well-researched, well-written and insightful account that sheds light on a country and an era too few Americans have any knowledge of even though so many of us grew up during that particular time in history. Mirta Ojito writes this memoir with considerable thoughtfulness and a sense of forgiveness that few others could bring to such a task. It is all the more remarkable considering she was a young girl when she and her family lived in Cuba and when they became a part of the Mariel boatlift. The reader is immediately drawn to her family, her neighbors, her friends and to those who made the boatlift possible. Her analysis of the Cuban people both on the island and in the exile community in South Florida is comprehensive and nuanced. Her expression of love for her country and her people is genuine and her longing for what was lost is selfless and true. Ojito has crafted a gem of a book that offers immediate knowledge of an often overlooked period in history and of a country so close and yet so far from us.

Mirta Ojito attempts a very unusual kind of history-writing and pulls it off to an uncommonly successful degree. Cuba under Castro is a difficult, contentious subject. Many journalists have lost their bearings and produced works that are superficial at best and self-absorbed at worst. Ojito herself took part in the Mariel exodus and treats her own experience in a manner that's dignified as well as personable. In addition, she analyzes the events and provides a genuine historical context. Ojito's dual approach to history avoids the pitfalls of first-person journalism and is replete with insights that will stand the test of time.

Mirta Ojito takes her own story and mixes it in with others, such as Hector Sanyustiz, the man that crashed a bus thru the Peruvian embassy in 1980 under fire by Cuban guards. During one of his tantrums when Peru refused to turn over the escaped exiles, Castro removed his Cuban guards and within a day over 10,000 folks poured into the embassy. Castro eventually allowed the port of Mariel to be opened up to anybody who wanted to pick up their loved ones (plus a few criminals and mental cases that he threw in), at the end over 125,000 Cubans leaving before he decided to shut down Mariel. Mirta Ojito provides insight into what life was like growing up in a family indifferent to Castro in 1970s Cuba. The book is full of accounts of the oppression, sometimes subtle, of those that do not support Castro's dictatorial regime. Mirta narrates in detail her use as an agricultural child laborer while in her early teens. Evidence of the political apartheid system in Cuba comes to Mirta as a child when she accidentally gets hold of a copy of her school record; where several of her teachers hold against her going to church, her parents' irreverence to support Castro's political activities, and their regular communication with kin in the U.S. The surveillance by the neighborhood Committees for the Defense of the Revolution is evident when her father gets stopped with a bag of potatoes illegally obtained in the black market. Ojito eventually gets to the part when they receive the paperwork to leave Cuba and are processed thru chaotic conditions in Mariel. I found the book easy to read, enjoyable, and descriptive of life by a typical family in Castro's Cuba. As a matter of fact, this book by Ojito is recommended in my own book about Memories from the Land of the Intolerant Tyrant (available from Blue Note Books) as one of the best describing life in Cuba.

The author details her life and the lives of others who have left Cuba and what they gained and lost in the transition. A well written book, even paced with good photographs.

I could not put this book down. Ojito's vivid and unsentimental account of life as a teenager in Cuba and her harrowing departure from the island is unforgettable. Further, I found that the book transported me to Cuba. In Ojito's beautiful and compelling writing, I found the words my Cuban exiled parents often sought to explain what living in Castro's Cuba was *really* like. I bought this book for several members of my family. I also purchased copies for my young children and reserved them in the box of must-read-when-you-are-older books.

I read the final chapters of this book in flight from Miami to Havana. I could not put this book down. I absolutely loved every word. Thanks.

I'm a Marielito and many of the experiences Ms. Ojito describes are similar to mine. That's what makes it authentic to me. The book itself is well researched, well developed and well written. It properly contextualizes the event. Those looking for a rabid denunciation of Mr. Castro should look somewhere else. Ms. Ojito, like me, doesn't care so much about Castro as to be obsessed with him.

This book is written with the intelligence and the heart of a seasoned reporter who lived through one of the most harrowing exodus of the past century, yet did exhaustive research to present a balanced account of the whys, the hows and the whens of the Mariel boatlift. Finding Mañana has received top reviews from The New York Times (4/8/05), St. Petersburg Times (4/10/05, Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel (4/11/05), Palm Beach Post (4/10/05), Florida Times Union (3/29/05) and Bookpage (4/05).

This book is a delight to read. It is about the life of a young girl and her family and the struggles she grew up with. In such a wonderful counry like this one where everything is at your fingertips, one feels sad after reading this book. It is true that many people have lived this way and even worse, however it is not easy to tell your life story to everyone in the world. I feel this book taught the "ignorants" how the True Cuba was, is and will be and at the same time it reminded many marielitos their journey from Cuba. I recommend everyone that enjoys Memoirs to read this book. It is very difficul to put down.