Review: The Handsomest man in Cuba
Posted: Monday, August 08, 2005
by ngoldman
Norm Goldman
Author: Lynette Chiang
ISBN: 0975581600
The following review was contributed by: NORM GOLDMAN: Editor of Bookpleasures &CLICK TO VIEW Norm Goldman's Reviews
There is nothing like learning about a country than cycling through its cities,
villages and hamlets and living and eating with the locals.
This is exactly what Lynette Chiang, author of The Handsomest man in Cuba
perceived in 2000’, when she cycled the length and breadth of Cuba on a compact
custom-built folding bicycle she had purchased through the mail-order from a
company in Eugene, Oregon.
You not only unearth information about the country, but also it is a discovery
of the people, who inhabit a particular corner of our world-their way of life,
aspirations, culture, and feelings. Something you would not experience staying
in the tourist compounds reserved only for foreigners and where Cubans are not
allowed on the premises, except to clean and check in guests.
Chiang confesses that she left behind a cushy lifestyle in Australia, which
included a decent job, a boy friend, a house, furniture, washer and dryer,
microwave oven, objects d’art, and all of the goodies that are part of la dolce
vita.
It certainly takes a great deal of gumption to chuck all of this away in order
to experience how Cubans live on food rations, and earning as little as five
dollars a month. Incidentally, Chiang pedaled through several other countries,
prior to venturing to Cuba.
In all likelihood, Chiang’s conversational and informative narrative will no
doubt change ones perspective of Cuba. As the author points out, there were no
barricades, no barbed wire, no overt military presence, no starvation, no
frightened faces or loud anti-government protests, firebombs or riots.
Cubans were found to be very proud and hard working who find innovative and
creative ways to survive on their meager earnings. Ration books are a way of
life- doling out the year’s food, soap, and cigarette allowances at exceedingly
nominal prices. However, this in no way prevents Cubans from extending to
foreigners amazing generosity, as was experienced by Chiang. What is also quite
remarkable is that most Cubans will not accept money as payment for many
services such as offering a room to a stranger for the night, as they consider
this to be an act of friendship. The only way Chiang was able to get around this
predicament was to say that it was not a payment but rather a gift.
The Handsomest man in Cuba is well- paced as a first-rate bicycle tour should
be, and Chiang manages to weave many details into an engrossing and enlightening
tale pertaining to the daily life of Cubans.
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