Customer Reviews

Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba (Adventure Press)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Christopher Baker, the author of "Mi Moto Fidel" won my heart in the first chapter by choosing a BMW motorcycle instead of a Harley. He then spent the rest of the book losing my sympathy. What could have been a fine dissection of a country in transition instead becomes a male mid-life sexual odyssey.

In the introduction Baker tells us he will detail his amorous conquests because "it illustrates the sensual nature of Cuba". Unfortunately he finds it necessary to include every sideways glance, every swished hip & every complementary female remark he intercepts. It gets a little tiresome for a reader to hear constant reiteration of how good a lover Baker is, what beautiful eyes he has, how every female bedded feels her life will be empty without him, etc. etc. ad nauseum. He must be the most gullible man around!

When he manages to get to the business at hand, ie writing of Cuba's scenery & people, things improve immensely. For most Norte Americanos, Cuba is Havana & maybe Trinidad. There is much more to this large island, & Baker rides thru most of it. The older people sound generous & dignified while the younger generation seems focused on extorting as many dollars as possible from every passing tourist. We are treated to excellent descriptions of beaches, mountains & agricultural areas. Baker also gives brief lessons in Castro & Cuba's history. Unfortunately, altho the author mentions almost every photo he stopped to take, none appear in the picture section. Those that do are so generic as to seem standard Cuba Board of Tourism releases. There's not even a good picture of the title motorcycle included!

Most men will enjoy this book unreservedly; my partner is ready to book a flight to Cuba this minute! Women will probably end with finding the author unsympathetic & vain. Take this book under advisement!

I used one of Christopher Baker's guidebooks over a year ago during my own 1 month adventure through Cuba. I found it to be an excellent book that was accurate and politically balanced (rare in most guidebooks). While in Havana, one of my friends told me he met Mr. Baker in a bar and that he was quite the "character". Naturally, when "Mi Moto Fidel" came out I bought it immediately. I had to know the story behind the writing of the guidebook and the man who wrote it. Other than Baker's initial political take on Cuba, his impressions were similar to my feelings about the island. He is able to love Cuba and it's people while still recognizing it's problems. He was also very honest about the change he experienced on his view of the current system. He gives a fair and balanced way of looking at the Cuba "situation". He essentially evolves and gains a much deeper understanding of Cuba and himself during his trip. I can understand how some readers might think Baker is a tad arrogant and self-centered, but he also was able to openly and honestly write about his mistakes and misconceptions; and actually grow from this. A rare quality in people. The book is also a great adventure story that will appeal to those who have or have wanted to travel independently. My only criticism is Baker's apparent disdain for most of the other foreigners he meets. I too despise many of the obnoxious package tourists I meet when traveling, however Baker seems to have trouble finding any redeeming qualities in most of the other tourists/travelers he meets. It seems he won't even give most of them a chance. He looks onto a beach and refers to fat, white skinned tourists. I am not sure how one can judge another person without actually speaking with them. Baker doesn't seem to realize that the content of someone's character has nothing to do with whether or not they have a tan or are thin (Although, I must admit, some of the tourists he meets do give arrogance and ignorance a new meaning). At times it seems he has the maturity level of a Southern California "frat" boy. I have no problem with his sexual adventures. After all, he was single and traveling in a very erotic country. But, I am confused as to why he seems to look down on other men who do the exact same as he. Maybe only tan men on motos have the right to enjoy themselves in this manner? I sometimes get the impression that Baker thinks he is "cooler" than other foreigners. Despite all this, I still highly recommend this book. It is well written, entertaining, insightful, funny, and accurate. Baker knows and understands this island better than most. He maintains his deep love for Cuba despite some unpleasant revelations during his trip. I look forward to his next book.

Whether you're traveling to Cuba or just dreaming of exploring this enigmatic island, "Mi Moto Fidel" is a remarkable read. Encounter by encounter, author Christopher Baker's adventures and insights travel deeply into the long-shrouded avenidas of Cuba's psyche. Initially infatuated with Castro's grand commitment to communism, Baker's explorations gradually cause him to experience a profound, political shift. After surviving a near shipwreck crossing the "widest, deepest moat in the world," the ninety-mile stretch of sea separating Key West, Florida from Cuba, Baker exclaims, "Havana! I can't wipe the grin off my face." Havana is Baker's jumping off point for a 7,000 mile trek across Cuba, his chariot a bodacious red BMW Paris-Dakkar motorbike. Baker's black leather get up, his exuberance, his flaming red motorcycle fascinate all who encounter him. Part travelogue, part memoir, part political treatise, Baker unabashedly records not only his impressions of Cuba but also those of his more private thoughts and experiences. This was not the writer's first attempt to uncover the reality of today's Cuba. As the author of two comprehensive and practical guidebooks about the island, he had made several previous trips. But, in the more personal "Mi Moto Fidel," Baker cuts to Cuba's core, laying bare the island's more intimate ways. He calls his travels both "disheartening and uplifting." Baker is at his best on his motorcycle, his senses completely at one with the island's unfolding landscape. Transporting the reader with him, he cruises the country's coastline and inland terrain. Impressions riff and rumble, creating verbal snapshots of Cuba's people and places. As one recedes, another more vivid unfolds. During his three-month odyssey, Baker and his bike consistently engage and attract the locals. Farmers, fishermen, former doctors, flamenco dancers, all contribute to the writer's political " coming of age" in this sweet and sour stewpot of police state and sultry paradise. Ultimately Cuba itself, its people, its history and geography propel the narrative. Too, Baker's "moto fidel" proves itself a fitting companion as it comes to represent the journey's one faithful and sustaining relationship. Often poetic and poignant, "Mi Moto Fidel" illuminates the dynamic mix of socialism and sensuality that is Cuba.

Mi Moto Fidel starts off promisingly enough, but sputters to a weak stop. Baker relating his apparently endless series of amorous conquests quickly becomes wearing (except possibly to 20-something males), as does his litany of complaints about Cuba's food (or lack thereof), heat, dust, and accomodations (or again, lack thereof).

While all probably true, I quickly tired of Baker's self-centerness and whining writing style. Except for sex, Baker seems not to have all that much liking for the Cuban people, his claims throughout Mi Moto Fidel notwithstanding.

Mi Morto Fidel belongs to that strange genre of travel books where the writer, after finally achieving his/her life-long dream. discovers that it wasn't worthwhile pursuing. You may find Mi Moto Fidel interesting if you think one man's pursuit of one-night stands is worthwhile reading. If you buy Mi Moto Fidel, as I did, to learn more about Cuba prior to traveling there, I think you'll find the book disappointing and depressing.

Mi Moto Fidel is a good story of Cuba and it's people, and, of course, Fidel.
The author, Christopher Baker, is a good observer and accurately portrays a nation awash in poverty thanks to Marxism run wild.
In reading the book, one becomes impressed with the staggering physical beauty of the place, almost as a metaphor for the wonderful humanity of the people of this caribbean emerald of an island. The Cubans are as he describes them: resilient, positive, generous and heroic in their survival against enormous economic degradation.
The book, though is troubling, and these troubles don't arise from either the "Moto" or from Fidel.
Mr. Baker's pomposity makes him, as the narrator and main participant in the work, a most unlikable protagonist. To him all tourists are obese, ignorant, rude and unwelcome. Spaniards, English, Americans, Germans and Canadians are all disparaged.
It seems as if Mr. Baker believes that he is the only non-Cuban entitled to visit the place.
Perhaps worse is Mr. Baker's role as a profligate participant in sexual imperialism. The most ethically bankrupt possible thing that a beneficiary of the developed economies can do is travel to a poor country and take advantage of the country's poverty by having sex with as many women as possible. Especially the young attractive ones.
And Mr. Baker seemingly indulges in this as often as he rides his "moto". He boffs in doorways, in hotel rooms, and as a guest in homes.
From his actions, Mr. Baker proves that he is not rich, he certainly isn't generous and from his website, he doesn't have movie star looks. The only reason that these women canoodle with him is for the meagre dollars he tosses around like manhole covers.
I have to conclude that despite the value of the depictions of the country and its people, this should be a do not read.
(...)

If you're impressed with books by ageing wannabees desperately seeking reassurance through the challenging medium of bored, penniless prostitutes, you'll find this riveting. Otherwise you'll probably find it to be indulgent garbage.
I first went to Cuba in 1995 (being from Europe it was not a problem to travel there), around the time the Buena Vista Social Club was gaining worldwide recognition. It was a fascinating place. I stopped going about five years ago, as the place was becoming oppressive, full of miserable sex tourists and those same bored, penniless prostitutes who practically throw themselves at any foreigner who has a few dollars to offer (the average monthly wage in Cuba is about $10). It is also becoming more dangerous, due in part to the growing desperation and in part to the increase in drug activity. Inevitably, AIDS is becoming more widespread.
Baker seems at home amidst the seedier side of modern day Cuba. A quick look at the website makes it easier to understand why that might be. His gullibility, so apparent in the book, is perhaps less easy to comprehend. Don Juan, he clearly ain't. But he is supposed to be well traveled.
If what you are really interested in is a well-researched book on Cuba, believe me, there are much better ones than this.
Don't be conned.

What is it about Cuba and how is it that Christopher P. Baker is able to get to the absolute core of the question so effectively? Perhaps it is that rare combination of love at first sight and a love that grows even finer as it ages. Enigmatic? Perhaps, but Baker hammers away at the puzzle in trip after trip, then book after book and we come to know more and more about this officially sanctioned American pariah with each sentence he commits to paper. It's a people-to-people thing, as Baker so effectively points out in his astonishing new book, "Mi Moto Fidel, Motorcycling through Castro's Cuba." I have read no U.S.-based author who has explored Cuba to the extent that Baker has. If you want the details of where to stay, eat, nightclub, sightsee, etc. no guidebooks touch his on Cuba as a whole or Havana in particular. However, in the process of researching these finely detailed works, he found a growing attachment to place and people that transcended the simple exposition of details and that developed into a need to put himself in the midst of things throughout the island. To say that his method for doing so was a bit challenging is substantiated within the first few pages of the book that describes his incredible 7,000-mile journey about Cuba, when you read of his prized BMW motorcycle, lashed precariously onto the stern of a heaving ship, pitching and yawing through the rough seas of the Straits of Florida. "Mi Moto Fidel" is a remarkable account of Baker's encounters with the people of Cuba in the settings that have defined their life, particularly since the ascension of Fidel Castro more than 40 years ago. At times in reminds of the journeys of Steinbeck, Kerouac, and, of course, Pirsig without the over-emphasis on Zen. Unashamedly and unabashedly Baker details his encounters - even the most intimate ones - with Cuba women. With friends from overseas, he takes us on tours about Havana that are reminiscent of scenes from "The Sun Also Rises." Hemingway and his attachment to Cuba are well-known and Baker helps us understand Papa's great attraction to this fascinating island. If you are considering a trip to Cuba and have the wherewithal to get there, do not leave without three books: Baker's guidebooks on the country and its capital, and "Mi Moto Fidel," for a wonderful account of the heart and soul of the country. If you are just interested in a fine read, by all means pick up the latter.

Although Baker is an unapologetic womanizer and takes avantage of many women who obviously want him so as to escape Cuba, the book is interesting in that it highlights many of the failures of the cuban revolution; the prostitution, bad food. Meanwhile, he catches the friendliness of the people.

I've always wanted to vistit Cuba, and I am a big motorcycle buff. So putting the 2 together is what attracted me to the book. I was hoping for insight into the Cuban way of life, a kind of personal view of what to see and do. I was not disappointed there, but the author's overuse of adjectives overwhelmed me as much as his egotistical sexual "conquests" of every pretty woman he laid his eyes on. The book could have been labelled "Mi Moto and God's gift to woman". I did also buy his Guide to Cuba which really is crammed with very useful information. I guess he must have been having fun writing "Mi Moto Fidel".

I bought this book expecting something along the lines of Patrick Symmes Chasing Che. Instead I got something else entirely. Fair enough. I believe there is a market for this kind of swashbuckling travel writing. But it wasn't for me. And to be frank, it was poorly written. Too many words to say far too little. A better narrative requires fewer adjectives and less alliteration. I have seen this guy's guidebooks and they are actually quite good and well written. But his ability to guide did not follow over to his literary endeavor. He shouldn't really be faulted entirely though. After all, an editor's job is to make sugggestions, hone the prose, and pare down. In short, to edit. I give the subject matter a 5, Baker a 3 for the effort, and National Geographic editors a 1 for nothing.