Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy“Have mercy on me, Lord, I am Cuban.” In 1962, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Havana—exiled from his family, his country, and his own childhood by Fidel Castro’s revolution. Winner of the National Book Award, this stunning memoir is a vibrant and evocative look at Latin America from a child’s unforgettable experience. Waiting for Snow in Havana is both an exorcism and an ode to a paradise lost. For the Cuba of Carlos’s youth—with its lizards and turquoise seas and sun-drenched siestas—becomes an island of condemnation once a cigar-smoking guerrilla named Fidel Castro ousts President Batista on January 1, 1959. Suddenly the music in the streets sounds like gunfire. Christmas is made illegal, political dissent leads to imprisonment, and too many of Carlos’s friends are leaving Cuba for a place as far away and unthinkable as the United States. Carlos will end up there, too, and fulfill his mother’s dreams by becoming a modern American man—even if his soul remains in the country he left behind. Narrated with the urgency of a confession, Waiting for Snow in Havana is a eulogy for a native land and a loving testament to the collective spirit of Cubans everywhere. |
Contents
Section 1 | 1 |
Section 2 | 6 |
Section 3 | 12 |
Section 4 | 35 |
Section 5 | 43 |
Section 6 | 49 |
Section 7 | 58 |
Section 8 | 69 |
Section 18 | 206 |
Section 19 | 224 |
Section 20 | 240 |
Section 21 | 249 |
Section 22 | 268 |
Section 23 | 285 |
Section 24 | 311 |
Section 25 | 316 |
Section 9 | 89 |
Section 10 | 109 |
Section 11 | 132 |
Section 12 | 148 |
Section 13 | 152 |
Section 14 | 162 |
Section 15 | 168 |
Section 16 | 182 |
Section 17 | 193 |
Section 26 | 323 |
Section 27 | 328 |
Section 28 | 335 |
Section 29 | 338 |
Section 30 | 351 |
Section 31 | 359 |
Section 32 | 367 |
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Anyway Aunt bang Batista's beautiful blocks bombs breadfruit brother Captain Nemo car surfing Carlos Eire Carmela Christmas clouds Coño Conrad Hilton Cuba Cuban dark dead death door dream Ernesto Eugenio everything eyes face father Fernando Fidel firecrackers friends hand happened Havana head hear hell huge inside Jell-O Jesus Jorge kids Kim Novak King Louis Kirk Kirk Douglas knew laughed lived lizards looked Louis XVI loved lucky Maria Theresa Marie Antoinette Mel Blanc Miramar mother movie neighborhood never nice Nieto night once Paredón parents parrot fish party pool remember Revolution Saint seemed seen sharks someone soul sound Spanish stared stop street sure talk tell Theater things thought told Tony tree turned turquoise Vikings waiting walk wanted watch waves window woman