The Island Called Paradise: Cuba in History, Literature, and the Arts

206 Pages·2014·1.666 MB·English

by  Philip D. Beidler

The Island Called ParadIse

The Island Called ParadIse
in History, Literature, and the arts
Cuba
The University of Alabama Press • Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2014
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface: Minion Pro
Cover photograph: Courtesy of Chip Cooper
Cover design: Michele Myatt Quinn
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for Information
Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI
Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Beidler, Philip D.
The island called paradise : Cuba in history, literature, and the arts
/ Philip D. Beidler.
       pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8173-1820-8 (trade cloth: alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-
8173-8743-3 (e book)
1. Cuba—In popular culture. 2. Cuba—In literature. 3. Cuba—In
art. 4. National characteristics, Cuban. I. Title.
F1760.B45 2014
972.91—dc23 2013035328
To the peoples of the United States of America
and la República de Cuba

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Cuba and the Imagination 1
1
Romancing Cecilia Valdés 14
2
Un Militar Español de Origen Venezolano 29
3
Mambises in Whiteface 37
4
The Ghost of Walker Evans 50
5
Ignacio Piñeiro, George Gershwin, and the Schillinger System 60
6
The Secret Life of Ricky Ricardo 70
7
Good Neighbor Batista 86
8
The Two Ernestos 99
9
Steverino in Gangsterland 115
10
Why No One in Havana Speaks of Graham Greene 126
viii Contents
11
Inspector Renko on the Malecón 140
12
The Example of Yoani Sanchez 151
Conclusion: The Autumn of the Comandante 164
Source Notes and Reading Suggestions 181
Index 187
aCknowLedgments
For institutional support in the travel, research, and writing that made
this book possible, I am indebted to the Cuba Initiative of the University
of Alabama and in particular to Dean Robert Olin of the College of Arts
and Sciences, who initiated projects and established contacts with Cuban
colleagues. In Cuba I am similarly indebted to our sister institution, la
Universidad de la Habana and in particular to Professor Jose Vasquez of el
Colegio de San Geronimo.
The enumeration of people to whom I owe personal thanks and the
description of the particular ways in which I am grateful to each would
fill pages. Let me just list them alphabetically. Carmen Burkhalter; Chip
Cooper; Catherine Davies; Julio Larramendi; Hank Lazer; Néstor Martí;
Dan Ross; Mike Schnepf; Dan Waterman; Shanti Wieland; Tom Wolfe. In
every case, the gratitude is anything but pro forma.
Acknowledgment is made for material published in American Studies
and Dalhousie Review.