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Although much has been written about Cuba after Castro, relatively little has been written about Cuba before Castro. The political reality of Castro's Revolution has created a historical void about this period, paying insufficient attention to an important century before 1959. Cuba has become a political punching bag, between supporters and critics of Castro and the Revolution, making it difficult to understand real life in Cuba because of the disproportionate preoccupation with, and monopoly of, the political reality on the island. In spite of some attempts, it continues to be easier and perceived as more pressing, to write about politics rather than the reality that Cubans experienced in their daily lives- their sufferings and celebrations, successes and failures, lives and deaths, and beliefs and disbeliefs. Going for and against the avalanche of information about the political authenticity in and out of Cuba, most Cubans have tended to forget that Cuba is much larger than the perceived reality after Castro's Revolution. Too many have failed to remember the Cubans who have lived and worked in Cuba in the century before an important period of Cuban history where the nation was forged. Indeed, even limited attention reveals a rich and sophisticated society that calls for study.
In this book Jorge J.E. Gracia approaches this situation by telling true stories about some members of his family (Doctor Ignacio Gracia, Maruca Otero, the Marques de Arguelles, and many others) who lived during a culturally rich century before Castro. He hopes to entice historians, academics, tourists and others, to pursue a balanced exploration of the island by telling part of their stories. This enterprise is neither history nor fiction, but memories written by a Cuban who left Cuba when he was eighteen years old and has become a distinguished philosopher in the United States.
List of contents
Preface
1. Names and Identity. What's in a Name?
2. "Je Suis Française!"
3. Escaping Mexican Wrath
4. The Jesuits Stole My Inheritance
5. Poetry, Spirits, and Flair
6. Treasure Trove for Christmas
7. Promising Future Comes to Naught
8. Una Señora Muy Aseñorada
9. Unexpected Success
10. The Storyteller
11. Bedroom Suite for a Pompadour
12. "¡España Es Nuestra Madre Patria!"
13. Better Marry Than Burn
14. The Marquis' Mistress
15. Ruined by a Hurricane and Resentment Against Spaniards
16. Tears from a "Bileless Dove"
17. Murdered by the Guardia Civil
18. La Dolorosa's Miracle
19. Promising Beginning and Sad End
20. Is Having to Work Punishment for Sin?
21. Broken Promise
22. A Twenty-Five Year Engagement
23. Romance on a Scale
24. "Te Voy a Capar"
25. A Gentleman Farmer at Heart
26. Running Away from Home
27. A Boy's Best Friends
28. A Bad Dream Comes True
29. Rebel with a Cause
30. A Philosophy of Underwear
31. End of Paradise
32. The Bully
33. First Holy Communion
34. Summers at the Beach
35. Yearly Audit and Crocodile Tears
36. Lean Years
37. Written in the Stars
38. A Night to Forget
39. The Refuge of Faith
40. The Consolation of Giving
41. An Interim Abode
42. Long Journey Into Darkness
43. Bicycles Are For Boys
44. Nena's Insistent Gay Suitor
45. Looking for Domestic Help
46. María "Picadillo"
47. "¡Yo soy muy macho!"
48. Teenager in Havana
49. The Club
50. Another Call
51. The Cursed Plantation
52. Sugar and Slavery
53. "El Marañon Aprieta la Boca"
54. "I Believe in God"
55. Building Up the Spirit
56. First Cracks of the Faith
57. Brother Balloon
58. "¿Y Tu Abuela, Dónde Está?"
59. "Mens Sana in Corpore Sano"
60. "De Eso No Se Habla"
61. Two Years of Terror
62. A Beach House at Last
63. Love and Prejudice
64. Quest for Freedom
65. School for Toy Soldiers
66. A Teacher Who Could Not Teach
67. "I've Got Wheels!"
68. Playground of the Caribbean
69. Chaperones
70. Puppy Love
71. Graduation and a Prom of Sorts
72. Starved for Culture
73. Recreating the Garden of Eden
74. From Hope to Despair
75. The University of Havana
76. Alea Iacta Est
77. The Bay of Pigs and a Police State
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the author
Jorge J. E. Gracia is distinguished professor of philosophy and comparative literature at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York.
