Waiting for Fidel [Paperback]

Christopher Hunt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 19, 1998

The New York Times says, "Christopher Hunt makes a lively travel companion." This time he has set his sights on Cuba, where crumbling but elegant facades overlook shady street activities, where vintage Ford Fairlanes rumble past Soviet Ladas in the fast lanes of eerily deserted boulevards, and where an aging Fidel Castro is struggling to maintain his grip on a population yearning for aire libre -or at least Air Jordans. When an inquisitive and mischievous American lands in Cuba and begins asking, "Where's Fidel?" the answers take him from Havana's squalid alleys to its steamy nightclubs, from its endless expanses of sugar cane to the craggy peaks that once sheltered the bearded dictator. Will Hunt find his man? An original Mariner paperback.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Fidel Castro was barred from the U.N. 50th-anniversary parties and fun, Christopher Hunt's curiosity was piqued. He decided to spend a winter in Cuba, avoid New York's icy misery, practice his Spanish, absorb some Cuban culture, and maybe even meet Fidel. In the time-honored tradition of great travelogues, everything goes wrong and everything goes right. He finds wonderful people while trying to meet Castro (including the man who played Grandpa Munster on the 1960s television show, The Munsters), and sees a lot of Cuba, from Havana alleys to resort beaches to the mountains that sheltered Castro and his band of rebels years ago. Some questions get resolved, while unanswerable Cuban quandaries take their place, such as how Cubans balance fear, hunger, passion, and hope in a country of food shortages, endless lines, and police surveillance. Hunt's finely rendered account of four months in Cuba whets the appetite for more about Cuba and more penned by Hunt.

From Library Journal

Hunt doesn't travel the easy way. His last book, Sparring with Charlie (LJ 5/1/96), was about navigating the Ho Chi Minh Trail on a motorbike. Here he retraces Fidel Castro's 1959 Liberty Caravan through Cuba, doing it illegally (as a foreigner) by hitchhiking on crowded trucks and staying in the unlicensed homes of local people. His goal was to interview Castro, but in this he failed. He did, however, come in contact with a cross section of ordinary people to provide a view of a nation that appears to be reaching the end of its socialist era, rife with shortages and encountering a notable increase in crime. He finds growing dissatisfaction with the government and an alarming polarization of power and privilege. Hunt writes with sympathy and humor, which somehow makes for enjoyable reading despite the suffering he describes. A good choice for public libraries.
-?Harold M. Otness, Southern Oregon Univ. Lib., Ashland, Ore.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 259 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; First Edition edition (January 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395868866
• ISBN-13: 978-0395868867
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,149,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smell the sweat, cigars and rum mingling in the salty air, October 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Waiting for Fidel (Paperback)

I was transported back to 1993 when I went on a trip to Cuba in search of myself. I couldn't put the book down. I know all the characters Hunt encounters in Cuba. I can feel their warmth, touch there souls, I can smell them, even though I've never met them in person. Friends have asked me what Cuba is like. I always recommend "Waiting for Fidel." Cuba is a complex world, socially and politically. The Revolution instituted good and bad. Hunt discovers this through his travels and conveys it well. I won't tell you how the book ends ( I love the ending ).

Tomas Hernandez is a Television Producer in San Francisco. Born in Cuba he left in1960 when he was three. He was raised for most of his youth in Puerto Rico and the US East Coast.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christopher Hunt gives good, unbaised view of life in Cuba, February 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Waiting for Fidel (Paperback)

While reading this, I was impressed how Hunt went about finding Fidel. While in Havana, he met several people who gave him good info and helped him get started on his journey. While trailing Castros revolutionary path, he becomes "Cubanised" by the people he meets along the way, gets a good view of Cuban life. Best of all, he learns and conveys valuable lessons that only an adventurer like him could. I like how he doesn't try to pass judgement, just simply report what he see's and does an outstanding job drawing things out for his readers.

An oustanding book for anyone wanting an unbaised look into Cuba.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An insightful book about a very interesting place, January 14, 2000

By 

gakkiman (Altadena, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waiting for Fidel (Paperback)

Anyone who spends time in Cuba has to wonder why the people put up with terrible economic hardships and total political oppression. One also wonders why Cubans are often very warm, friendly, and even generous, especially towards Americans. How can Castro remain in power when almost everyone you ask will say they have had enough of him? The author puts these questions and many others to the people of Cuba and their answers shed some much-needed light on the subject.