Customer Reviews

Next Year in Cuba

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a young person who was born in the United States but whose parents were born in Cuba, identity has never been black and white for me--although it has always been blue, red, and white. This book crystallized so many emotions that I had felt my entire life but had never really examined. If you are 22 and have never been to Cuba, but still call yourself Cuban or if you are 60 and think if your childhood on that island paradise everyday--this book will make you laugh, it might make you cry, and it will certainly make you think. For over forty years now Cubans have been hoping for that "next year" to come to fruition, but we are still waiting. This book will make you long for "next year" like never before. Read it--you will never forget you did.

That is the question that has echoed throughout the Cuban exile community for over 40 years. As the older generation fades, the new generation continues to ask, to wonder, if the next year will finally be the year when Cuba will be free and Castro will be, and there's no other way to say it, dead.

Perez Firmat and I stand a generation apart, yet reading this book, there really was no difference. The Cuban-American experience has much to do with yearning, an emotion that this book succeeded in evoking. We yearn for the Cuba we hear our relatives talk about. We yearn for the freedom of this never-seen homeland, to see the end of the tyranny. And we also yearn for this America, for the apple pie and Coca-Cola life we see and hear all around us, yet can never fully belong to.

Being Cuban-American is not only complex, it is two extremes thrown together. Finding our identity as we straddle two nations is a challenge even now, 40 years later, and even to people like me, first-generation Cuban-Americans. You are forced to ask over and over again, What am I? I am not Cuban, I was born here in the U.S. But I am not American, my "Cuban-ness" is such a strong, obvious part of me it cannot be denied.

Next Year in Cuba does a great job of giving an eloquent, humorous voice to this complexity. It's a great read on the Cuban-American culture, sure to give a better insight and appreciation to those wanting to know more.

That we Cubans and Cuban-Americans can find humor in any situation--even the most tragic and overwhelming--is a testament to our strength. This book is a poignant, funny, and sometimes sad tale of one man's struggle to find his identity. It is a very personal self-examination, but one that most of us (all us "hyphenated" people) can relate to. Are you Cuban? Are you American? Are you "of Cuban descent"? Are you Cuban-American? Are you one person at home and another at work? These are difficult questions, and he walks us through the even more difficult process of trying to find an answer. Does he have an answer? Yes and no. The author also explores the Cuban community's rise from its initial status as an underprivileged, immigrant, "exile" community, to its present role as an assimilated, politically active, financially powerful ethinic force. All of this adds more depth to his own personal identity issues. The book is fascinating, thoughful, and full of relatives we can all look at and say "I have an aunt/uncle/mother/father/etc. just like that!"

In the wake of the Elian Gonzalez saga, I just hope everyone reads this and remembers how and why we got here. Thank you, Professor Firmat.

This book made me come to terms with what being a Cuban born American means to me. Perez Firmat shares his own personal and sometimes painful experiences with the readers. In doing so he made it easier to define and understand my own experience as a Cuban-American who loves the United States yet has a yearning to gain a deeper understanding of his own Cuban roots.

In Next Year in Cuba, Gustavo Perez Firmat accurately and eloquently conveys the experience of Cuban exiles in America. The book engages the reader and invites him to share the author's personal feelings as he adjusts to life in a different world. Never before have I read an autobiography that I was able to connect with so readily and extensively.

My entire family has read it, and everyone has absolutely loved it! For Cuban Americans or anyone who enjoys I Love Lucy reruns, it is a must read!

Like Perez Firmat, I am as he mentions, "born in Cuba, made in the USA". I found his book not only well-written, but honest. His honesty in trying to come to terms with two cultures, neither of which he can now do without is touching and realistic.

The humor and sensitivity he employs in revealing the trauma and confusion of a child going through the exile process helps define not only himself but many of us. His struggle as he grows in this country and becomes more "americanized" contrary to the expectations of the older generation is honestly expressed. This book crystalized many of my own experiences, and clarified others as to who I am and how our generation cannot completely be either Cuban or American, but must be both.

I am a first generation Cuban-American, and I was able to really appreciate some of the author's struggles and experiences. This book is not just for those who were born in Cuba, for for their children as well..Read it...

Although I was born in the Bronx, New York, reading this book took me "home." My father was born in Cuba (my mom in Puerto Rico) and always spoke about his country (I went there twice). It's a pleasure to read a book and know exactly what the author is talking about.

I'm from Brazil and the product arrived in an excellent condition and quickly here. I enjoyed the quality and the efficience of service. I hope to buy on the Amazon again soon. If you like of an interesting life story and want to learn more about a different culture and a "new type" of culture "in the middle" of two countries, I invite you to know the Firmat's job. It's amazing! I had read the Spanish version and I was very curious to read the English version too to discover probable different points of the literary writting between two languages. Thanks to my purchase on the Amazon, now I can.

I also emigrated to the US in 1960. I was twenty years old and recently married to my present wife of fifty years.

Our children and grandchildren are all American citizens from birth and even though they have listened to our conversations about Cuba since they were toddlers, my wife and I are the only ones whose nostalgia of our former country has remained intact. In fact, it intensifies almost on a daily basis the older we get.

Perez Firmat is right on target characterizing our generation and did it with class and a tad of gentle humor. I absolutely recommend this book as a great read.

Signed:

Andrew J. Rodriguez

Award-winning author: "Adios, Havana," a Memoir