Cuba Then, Cuba Now

by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro

In an enthralling blend of travel literature and history, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro provides an insightful portrait of a mesmerizing place. Building on the in-depth exploration of Cuba's society, culture, and politics that formed part of his recent book, Island The Carribbean and the World, Jelly-Schapiro adds new material covering the changes that followed the death of Fidel Castro. The result is a concise and up-to-date overview of Cuba's past and present and its enduring grip on the world’s imagination.

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 5, 2019

About the author

Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a geographer and writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, and Harper's magazine, among many other publications. Among his books is Names of New York, Island People, and (with Rebecca Solnit) Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas. He is a scholar-in-residence at the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU, where he also teaches.

Reviews

[Doug Depies · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book entitled "Cuba Then, Cuba Now," very little of the book was dedicated to Cuba. 80% of the book was about the history of reggae in Jamaica. While it was well written and very interesting, it had very little to do with Cuba.

[Logan Streondj · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely misleading title, only the introduction is about Cuba, the rest is about Jamaica, total scam rip off.

[Suzanne Bhagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, I found the title of the Vintage Short to be a bit misleading. It promised reflective essays on Cuba – then and now, but the bulk of the book spoke about another Caribbean island, Jamaica. In fact, Cuba Then, Cuba Now included excerpts from Shapiro’s first book, Island People: The Caribbean and the World. Shapiro’s three chapters on Jamaica certainly brought the island alive with keen observations of its people, history, and culture. I liked that the narrative voice was attuned to Jamaican patois, particularly the brand spoken by its Rastafarian community. The introduction and the chapter on Cuba, however, somehow didn’t make much of an impact on me as a Caribbean-born reader and writer. That said, I enjoyed reading this title and would really like to read Island People next.