Reviewing 'Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know'

Julia E. Sweig's book, "Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know," is reviewed by the Los Angeles Times' Marjorie Miller, who writes:

"For most of Cuba's history, and certainly since the revolution that brought Fidel Castro's Communist government to power, U.S. policy has penetrated nearly every facet of life in Cuba, making it virtually impossible for average Cubans to forget about the superpower next door. 

"This is driven home in `Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know,' Julia E. Sweig's forthcoming portrait of the country, where even chapters on domestic issues are as much about Cuba's relationship with the United States as they are about Cuba itself. Beginning with the Cuban war of independence from Spain through the end of Castro's rule in 2006, the long arm of the United States has reached across to the island."

You can read more from writer Sweig in the Washington Post earlier this month, where she wrote: 

"President Obama has promised to shut down the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, seeking to erase a blot on America's global image. He has also reached out to Cuba, easing some travel and financial restrictions in an effort to recast Washington's approach to the island. These two initiatives have proceeded on separate tracks so far, but now is the time to bring them together. Hiding in plain sight, the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay is the ideal place for Obama to launch a far-reaching transformation of Washington's relationship with its Communist neighbor."

--Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Two sides of Mexico's best short fiction

Carolyn Kellogg writes on our Jacket Copy blog:

The new anthology of short stories "Best of Contemporary Mexican Fiction," edited by Alvaro Uribe, is out now from the Dalkey Archive Press. Nothing unites the writers "beyond the quality of their work," Uribe writes in his introduction. "I decided to reverse the usual chronological order so that the reading begins in the present day and ends in a vanishing point in which today's Mexican narrative merges with the rich tradition it inherited." The book begins with Vivian Abenshushan (born in 1972) and ends with Héctor Manjarrez (born in 1945). 

At more than 500 pages, it's a big book for containing only 16 stories -- but that's because they are printed in both Spanish and English, side by side (Spanish on the left-hand pages, English on the right).

Read the complete blog post here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Daveness98 via Flickr

Guillermo del Toro: Tried to make them as disgusting as possible

Here on La Plaza we're big fans of the Mexican mastermind behind such fantasty-fueled films as "Hellboy"  and "Pan's Labyrinth": Guillermo del Toro.

Del Toro has recently turned his attention to writing novels -- vampire novels -- and the launch of his first book, called "The Strain," is scheduled for June 6. 

Veteran journalist attacks the trade in Latin America

Mexican journalist and author Alma Guillermoprieto, a contributor to publications such as the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, has a pretty low opinion of journalism in Latin America, according to an interview with the Mexican newspaper Milenio.

As we've reported repeatedly, journalists working in the region suffer persecution and harassment, and Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

Ni Modo. Guillermoprieto maintains that no matter what the conditions many journalists are working under, they still need to have standards, and she believes that journalism in the region is practiced with "low rigor and a lack of imagination."

Hostages' stories fill bookshelves in Colombia

Hostage stories are hot property these days.

Bookstores in Colombia are full of gripping tales by former hostages detailing how they survived forced marches, military bombing runs, jungle-borne parasites and the abuse of sadistic guards, writes Juan Forero for the Washington Post in Bogota.

A few of the authors, explains Forero, have gone deeper, explaining their frailties under harrowing conditions or "recounting the inevitable human drama that unfolded in the jungle, from rivalries in makeshift prisons to the romances that blossomed between some hostages."

And Colombians are awaiting the release of a book by former hostage Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian former presidential candidate who was liberated last year after being held for more than six years by the Colombian rebel force FARC.

The books have generated a swirl of controversy in a country where people tend to be wary of airing intimacies in public. Some critics have strongly rebuked the trend.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Image: In "Out of Captivity," three Americans describe their experiences as hostages of FARC. The book was launched in New York late last month but is selling well in Bogota. Credit: HarperCollins

Writer picks top 10 tales of Latin American journeys

Writer and filmmaker Hugh Thomson has led numerous research expeditions to Peru. The books which have resulted include "The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland" and "Cochineal Red: Travels Through Ancient Peru." His latest book, "Tequila Oil," tells of a wild and dangerous adventure through Mexico's past and present.

In this article, Thomson picks his 10 favorite accounts of travels and adventures across Latin America.

They are:
1. "The Motorcycle Diaries: A Journey Around South America," by Ernesto Che Guevara
2. "Mad White Giant," by Benedict Allen
3. "Tristes Tropiques," by Claude Lévi-Strauss
4. "Travels With a Circus," by Katie Hickman
5. "Robbery Under Law: The Mexican Object-Lesson," by Evelyn Waugh
6. "Love in the Time of Cholera," by Gabriel García Márquez
7. "Mornings in Mexico," by D.H. Lawrence
8. "In Patagonia," by Bruce Chatwin
9. "The Lawless Roads," by Graham Greene
10. "Keep the River on Your Right," by Tobias Schneebaum

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: From the official website of the movie "The Motorcycle Diaries," http://www.motorcyclediariesmovie.com/home.html

Book review: 'The Accountant's Story,' a tale about narco baron Pablo Escobar, by his brother

If you speak a little Spanish and recently have spent a bit of time anywhere near the border, you've probably heard a narcocorrido, a ballad sung to danceable norteño-style music with lyrics that romanticize the drug trade, writes Tim Rutten in the Los Angeles Times book section.

Rutten writes that "The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel" is the literary equivalent of a narcocorrido -- "without the redeeming virtue of a catchy, polka-inflected beat."

The book's cover bears two additional subtitles: one informing us that this is "the true story of Pablo Escobar"; the other that the author, Roberto Escobar, is his brother.

But the reviewer is unimpressed with Escobar's account of his brother's cocaine empire which, according to Forbes magazine, accounted for 80% of the world's cocaine traffic:

This oddly flat and, frankly, repellent book is certainly not confessional and is, in fact, less a memoir than it is an apologia for the brother Roberto quite obviously admires still. Pablo's drift into criminality is, in his brother's mind, at least, the inevitable consequence of growing up poor and ambitious in a violent, underdeveloped society. The fact that hundreds of thousands of other young men growing up in similar circumstances didn't elect to better themselves by profiteering on misery and death is airily passed over; Pablo, after all, was 'a born leader.

Read the full review here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: A visitor tours a Colombian ranch once owned by Pablo Escobar. Credit: Luis Benavides / Associated Press

Gustavo Arellano reviews two books with Mexican themes

Gustavo Arellano reviews two books in the Los Angeles Times, one looks at Mexican culture in the United States, and the other takes on the classic Mexican sport, Lucha Libre.

The first book on the list doesn't seem to impress the reviewer. "Mexican American Mojo: Popular Music, Dance, and Urban Culture in Los Angeles, 1935-1968," by Anthony Macías "is ambitious, seeking to detail the transformation of Los Angeles and its waves of Mexican Americans through the prism of music, culture and the interaction of L.A.'s segregated classes," writes Arellano.

"Macías crams his book with riches of information -- dates, names, long-gone establishments like Venice's Aragon Ballroom and the Trianon -- but its writing unfortunately becomes rote after a while. It's as if the UC Riverside professor decided to sacrifice style in favor of information; that might work for a tome suited for an academic audience, but for a topic that's so accessible, it's unfortunate that Macías didn't spend more time working on his prose."

Arellano also gives Heather Levi's "The World of Lucha Libre: Secrets, Revelations and Mexican National Identity the once-over.

"This book entertains, informs and breezes by, although Levi ends on a depressing note, pointing out  that lucha libre itself is becoming trendy in Mexico -- thus losing much of the sociopolitical layers that made it so popular and potent," writes Arellano.

Read the full reviews here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: A lucha libre fighter falls to his knees during a bout in Mexico City's Arena Coliseo. Credit: Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times.

Whistleblower publishes manual for parents on detecting child abuse

Lydia Cacho's celebrity was apparent from the get-go last Thursday night in the trendy Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City, where the journalist launched her new book "Not With My Child" (Con Mi Hij@ No).

When your humble correspondent arrived for the launch at the beautiful bookshop Libreria Rosario Castellanos, the raven-haired writer was posing for an all-male squad of newspaper photographers. In a country where journalists are killed for poking their noses into dark places and challenging the powers that be, Cacho has become something of a hero for doing just that and surviving, albeit by the skin of her teeth.

The photo session was brief, and then it was on with the business of launching her latest book -- a manual for parents in Mexico to help them recognize if their children are being abused and, if so, what they can do about it. That might seem like a rather strange subject for a book, but it is the product of Cacho's rather harrowing experience.

Stephenie Meyer dominates Mexico’s top 10 books

The vampire-themed love stories weaved by U.S. writer Stephenie Meyer have captured the attention of the Mexican public. The 10 bestselling books in Mexico last week, according to the Associated Press, were as follows.

1. "Crepúsculo (Twilight)" - Stephenie Meyer, Ediciones Alfaguara.
First in the series of vampire-themed books, which also inspired the film currently running in cinemas.

2. "Amanecer (Breaking Dawn)" - Stephenie Meyer, Ediciones Alfaguara.
Last in the series of Meyer’s vampire-themed books.

3. "El Jardín Devastado (The Ravaged Garden)" - Jorge Volpi, Ediciones Alfaguara.
Mexican author Volpi straddles Mexico and Iraq in this semi-autobiographical tale.

4. "Eclipse" - Stephenie Meyer, Ediciones Alfaguara.
The third in Meyer’s vampire series.

5. "Los Cómplices del Presidente (The President’s Accomplices)" - Anabel Hernández, Grijalbo Mondadori.
Mexican journalist Hernandez examines the significance of some of Mexico President Felipe Calderon’s closest political allies, including the now-deceased Juan Camilo Mouriño.

6. "Luna Nueva (New Moon)" - Stephenie Meyer, Ediciones Alfaguara.
The second in Meyer’s series of vampire novels.

7. "México Acribillado (Riddled Mexico)" - Francisco Martin Moreno, Ediciones Alfaguara.
Mexican author Francisco Martin Moreno probes the circumstances surrounding former President Alvaro Obregon’s assassination in his most recent historical novel.

8. "Mafalda inédita" - Quino (Joaquin Salvador Lavado), Ediciones de la Flor.
Latin America's most popular cartoon strips, by the Argentine artist.

9. "El Niño con el Pijama de Rayas (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)" - John Boyne, Salamandra.
Through the eyes of Bruno, a German boy, Irish author John Boyne weaves a descriptive tale set in Nazi Germany during the early 1940s against the backdrop of the persecution of Eastern European Jews. The novel is now also a major motion picture showing in Mexico.

10. "País de Mentiras (Country of Lies)" - Sara Sefchovich, Editorial Océano.
Mexican writer Sara Sefchovich analyzes lies and their part in the political system and what the consequences have been for Mexican society.

--Deborah Bonello in Mexico City