My Car in Managua [Paperback]

Forrest D. Colburn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1991 | ISBN-10: 0292751249 | ISBN-13: 978-0292751248

Histories of revolutions often focus on military, political, or economic upheavals but sometimes neglect to connect these larger events to the daily lives of "ordinary" people. Yet the peoples' perception that "things are worse than before" can topple revolutionary governments, as shown by the recent defeat of the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua and the governments of Eastern Europe. Providing the kind of prosaic, revealing details that more formal histories have excluded, My Car in Managua offers an objective, often humorous description of the great difficulties and occasional pleasures of life in Nicaragua during the Sandinista revolution. During a year's work (1985-1986) at the Instituto Centroamericano de Administración de Empresas (INCAE), Forrest Colburn purchased a dilapidated car--and with it an introduction to everyday life in Nicaragua. His discoveries of the length of time required to register the car (approximately six weeks), the impossibility of finding spare parts (except when U.S. dollars were applied to the search), and the fact that "anyone getting into a car in Managua can be charged a small fee [for car watching] by anyone else" all suggest the difficulties most Nicaraguans faced living in a devastated economy. Drawing on experiences from visits throughout the revolutionary period (1979-1989), Colburn also sheds light on how the Revolution affected social customs and language, gender roles and family relationships, equality and authority, the availability of goods and services, the status of ethnic minorities, and governmental and other institutions. Illustrations by Nicaragua's celebrated political cartoonist Róger Sánchez Flores enliven the lucid text.

Product Details

• Paperback: 148 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press (1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292751249
• ISBN-13: 978-0292751248
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #417,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just barely chugging along in Nicaragua, October 25, 2000

By 

Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Car in Managua (Paperback)

Once upon a time, as I remember, there was a country called Nicaragua. It was in the news every day. Revolutionaries had taken it over. This was perceived as a great threat to our nation, (the USA)---a well-known military pushover with a decrepit economy which could easily have been totally destroyed by this Central American Marxist powerhouse. We armed the opposition and a war ensued in which the poor killed the poor. Russians, Bulgarians, and even Libyans appeared in Central America. People came visiting from everywhere who dreamed that Latin American countries could develop without being dominated by Uncle Sam. Even Salman Rushdie wrote a book about it. Suddenly, an election was held---hey, I thought Nicaragua was totalitarian---and the revolutionaries lost. Nicaragua faded from the news immediately and nothing more has ever been heard of the place. That's the media biz.

MY CAR IN MANAGUA stands out like a lighthouse on a dark stormy night. An eminently reasonable man spent a lot of time there and wrote an academic study of the place. This is not it. Colburn captures the flavor of Nicaragua in those tumultuous years here, describing daily life and survival tactics in easily-flowing prose. No cant, no rhetoric, no animosity. In a brief book he covers a vast variety of subjects; from car purchase and maintenance to accounting and management techniques on "revolutionary" cattle ranches. You can find out what kind of toothpaste was available in Sandinista Nicaragua (Bulgarian) or how to tell a middle class home in Managua (it had cement floors). Everything is described with understanding and with a sense of humor. The book is illustrated with drawings by a famous Nicaraguan cartoonist of the time, Róger Sánchez Flores, though I did not find them exceptional. We plainly see the economic mess created by a revolution that was far more successful in breaking down old social barriers and empowering the common man. Colburn never harps on this, just notes various unvarnished facts. The affection that the author feels for this impoverished, exhausted country is obvious. For a commonsense view of 1980s Nicaragua that is enjoyable, well-written and insightful, you cannot do better than this book. And it makes you wonder, not for the first time perhaps, if the USA's style of foreign policy will ever change.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, humorous writinga small tour de force., March 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: My Car in Managua (Paperback)

For those familiar with Colburn's Post-Revolutionary Nicaragua: State, Class and the Dilemmas of Agrarian Policy, this slim volume will come as a pleasnt surprise indeed. Void of academic pedantry, My Car in Managua delivers us from economic tables and shows us the life of everyday Nicaraguans. Colburn does this with splendid humor and tight, concise writing. Illustrated by noted Nicaraguan cartoonist Roger Sanchez Flores, the entire text charms from beginning to end. Without saying so directly, Colburn exposes the void that was U.S. foregin policy throughout the 1980s-a goal easily enough achieved, but seldom with such humble grace.

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny book, September 29, 2011

By 

flames9 "flames9" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: My Car in Managua (Paperback)

Bought this book prior to moving to Managua. Made me wonder what I was gettign myself into,lol. Very easy book to read and laugh along with. Well worth the purchase.