Rating: 
Summary: A book which NAILS the Cubano condition
Review: I will make this brief. I spent a few months travelling in Cuba, doing my best to stay away from Castro's state sponsored tourist complexes so that I could experience the true face of Cuba.This book captures that true face. In all it's glories, trials, and tribulations. In all its miracles. If you want to understand Cuba, and the conditions under which the average Cuban lives, you can do two things: go down there and spend a month living in the barrio, amongst the people, and you can read this book, in which Ben Corbett has already done this living for you.
Rating:
Summary: A book which NAILS the Cubano condition
Review: I will make this brief. I spent a few months travelling in Cuba, doing my best to stay away from Castro's state sponsored tourist complexes so that I could experience the true face of Cuba. This book captures that true face. In all it's glories, trials, and tribulations. In all its miracles. If you want to understand Cuba, and the conditions under which the average Cuban lives, you can do two things: go down there and spend a month living in the barrio, amongst the people, and you can read this book, in which Ben Corbett has already done this living for you.
Rating:
Summary: Good book
Review: I've read many first person accounts of Cuba and this the best. It's the best because it gives anecdotes and then explains the governmental, historical and societal reasons for them. It does so without resorting to lame leftist anti-american excuses so common among cuba-philes yet avoids being uncritical of US policy.
Rating:
Summary: I highly recommend this book.
Review: Mr. Corbett has written a gem of a book. Although not perfect, his book captures the unique combination of hope, happiness, tyranny, and desperation faced by Cubans today and during the Special Period. As a Cuba scholar who has visited the island many times and who has read a large number of other books about Cuba, I fully recommend this book and believe that it is a better read than 95% of the other books about contemporary Cuba. The couple of reader commentaries on this book that were unduly critical appear to have been written by people who are out of touch with the reality that, even as you are reading this review, hundreds or thousands of Cubans are bemoaning their lives under the Castro regime, with a considerable number assembling a raft or otherwise trying their best to scrounge up money to try to finance an escape from the island, at risk of imprisonment for committing this "crime against the Revolution." Kudos, Mr. Corbett, on writing a vibrant, relatively balanced account of life in Cuba! I didn't agree with a few of your own comments, but that of course does not mean you did not write a very fine book.
Rating:
Summary: Telling it like it is
Review: Mr. Corbett's absorbing and insightful look at today's Cuban culture removes (one hopes forever) the veil of romanticism and misguided mystique with which other writers have bestowed upon this imprisoned island; he has tackled nearly every aspect of daily life, in minute and well-crafted details, chronicling the struggles every Cuban has to face to get through the day. His book mirrors many of the situations and hardships (social, political, cultural, and otherwise) which my own mother and many other relatives experience in their own lives. I have never read a book about my homeland as truthful as this one, and I highly recommend it to those interested in Cuban history and Cuba-U.S. relations. Bravo, Mr. Corbett!!
Rating:
Summary: Por fin la verdad
Review: Read this book, the best book written about Cuba.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable read except for Spanish editing
Review: Taking off one full star due to horrible editing of Spanish by the publisher. Otherwise a very enjoyable read that vividly portrays the daily life of the avg. Cuban. Goes a long way towards countering the propaganda about Cuba fed to Americans by liberal media, not to mention the Cuban regime itself. Makes you think twice about vacationing in Havana and supporting the economic, political, and cultural oppression of an entire people.
Rating:
Summary: Essence of daily life and thoughts of Cubans
Review: This book captures the essence of "cubanidad" or what it means to live and think in Cuba. The pages are filled with a variety of examples that draws the reader into everyday life there. Many great guidebooks will tell you about the things to see and do in Cuba but this book puts you in Cuban shoes and walks you around. Well done!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Insight into Cuba
Review: This book is a wonderful account of true-life in Cuba. Coming from a somewhat anthropologocal/sociological perspective, Corbett has immersed himself into the culture, gained the trust of Cubans, and reported on what the media often tries to hide. Anyone who is interested in Cuba, has visited, or hungers to learn more about this island, this book is a fantastic read. I rank this as the best book I have picked up this year.
Rating: 
Summary: The truth is somewhere in the middle - this book isn't!
Review: This book is certainly an intertaining read but it is clear that the author is biaised from the start, offering only one side of the coin. From my own experience with Cubans, the answer lies somewhere in the middle between this book and others books glorifying the revolution. As for the opinion of the "average" cuban, it really depends on who you ask. If you ask an older cuban who experienced the pre-revolution days, they will tell you that the Revolution has accomplished a lot and that the young generation is ungrateful for the sacrifices they have had to make to get there.
If you ask a young Cuban who has the curse of an education and no opportunity to put it to good use, he will tell you he hates everything about Castro and the revolution. The current situation is the results of many factors, including the embargo, the Castro administration, the Miami exiles constantly "pushing" american consumerism, and more and there is no quick solution to this situation (certainly not opening the floodgates to unregulated entreprize - having a McDonalds and a Starbucks on every corner street will not solve Cuba's social problems) All that said, if you keep an open mind, this book can still be an entertaining glimpse of the lives of some "ordinary" Cubans.
| 
