Cuba-Going Back

by Tony Mendoza

Overview

“A subtle yet striking collection of sepia-like photographs depicting life in Cuba, coupled with the perceptive observations of a Cuban exile returning home.” —Miami Herald

Imagine being unable to return to your homeland for thirty-six years. What would you do if you finally got a chance to go back?

In 1996, after travel restrictions between the United States and Cuba were relaxed, Cuban exile Tony Mendoza answered that question. Taking his cameras, notebooks, and an unquenchable curiosity, he returned for his first visit to Cuba since the summer of 1960, when he emigrated with his family at age eighteen. In this book he presents over eighty evocative photographs accompanied by a beautifully written text that mingles the voices of many Cubans with his own to offer a compelling portrait of a resilient people awaiting the inevitable passing of the socialist system that has failed them.

His photographs and interviews bear striking witness to the hardships and inequalities that exist in this workers’ “paradise,” where the daily struggle to make ends meet on an average income of eight dollars a month has created a longing for change even in formerly ardent revolutionaries. At the same time, Cuba—Going Back is an eloquent record of a personal journey back in time and memory that will resonate with viewers and readers both within and beyond the Cuban American community. It belongs on the shelves of anyone who values excellent photography and well-crafted prose.

“This book, based on the photos and interviews he conducted on his trip, is a remarkable first-hand account of today’s Cuba.” —Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292788152
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	02/24/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	155
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Tony Mendoza is the author of four books, including the highly acclaimed Stories and Ernie: A Photographer's Memoir. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, where he teaches photography at Ohio State University.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xi
	Acknowledgments	xv
	Introduction	xvii
Section I	The Interior Exile ("insilio")	1
	Testimonio de un artista	3
	Oh, La Habana	4
	Manena's Cuban American Recipes	13
	Life in Exile	13
	The "Sandwich" Generation	20
	The Thirteenth Suitcase	26
	Sin calcetines	34
	Beyond Fear	43
	Dead Rafter II	47
	Balsero Singing	48
Section II	"Merely a Player"	51
	Los que se alejan siempre son los ninos	53
	Merely a Player	54
	Portrait of Wendy, At Fifty, With Bra	58
	The Wooden Suitcase	64
	Once upon a Time in May of 1961 ...	66
	Crossing into the Mainstream	67
	Fragmented Memories	69
	Going Back	78
Section III	Crossing the Generational Divide	83
	An Afternoon with Ernesto F. Betancourt	85
	Growing Up Cuban American	92
	My Life in Exile	98
	Lost Memories and Nostalgic Obsessions	100
	Thirty-Two Years Later	107
	Island of Color	112
	Life al reves	116
	On Being Cuban	121
	One Mother's Testimonial	124
	Tia Ada's Arroz con leche	128
	Losing Eden	128
Section IV	Snapshots	133
	La hora de los mameyes	135
	Abui	137
	A Cuban American Memoir	143
	Song for the Royal Palms of Miami	146
	Photograph of My Parents	148
	First Shift at Hershey's, 4 A.M.	149
	Inhabited Woman	151
	Burialground	152
	A Journal from the Bay of Mariel	153
	Political Exile	165
Section V	The Culture Wars	171
	The Facts of Life on the Hyphen	173
	Against the Grain: Writing Spanish in the USA	177
	From "The Necessary Treasons"	179
	Understanding del Casal	181
	A Cubana in New York	187
	Arroz	192
	What Kind of Cuban Are You?	193
	Tropical Flavor	195
	Flags and Rags (On Golden Lake)	196
	Next Stop Ninety Miles	202
Section VI	"The Bite of Exile"	207
	The Bite of Exile	209
	Autobiography	210
	Culture and Exile	211
	The Wages of Exile	214
	Foreigner's Notebook	223
	In the Wilderness	225
	Living on Borrowed Ground	225
	Clotheslines	226
	Letter to His Niece	228
	exilio	230
	sombras	231
	Paradox	232
	Where Are You From? A Cuban Dilemma	233
	The Chosen	235
	Even Names Have Their Exile	236
	The Photo That Watches	238
Section VII	"Grace under Pressure"	243
	Cubans in the U.S.	245
	Exile: Reality or Imagination	248
	Entre el gato y la casa	249
	Musicians in Motion	252
	From "Celia Cruz"	253
	From "La magia musical de Cachao"	255
	Yesterday/Ayer	257
	El descanso del heroe	258
	Head and Vessel	259
	From Outside Cuba/Fuera de Cuba	260
	Historia rota (Broken History)	260
	Exilio	262
	Abode	265
	Lluvia y primaveras	267
	Autobiography, Historiography, and Mythography in Matias Montes Huidobro's Desterrados al fuego	269
Section VIII	"Inheriting Exile"	277
	On Being an American-Born Cuban from Miami	279
	From "Stories My Mother Never Told Me"	284
	ABCs in South Florida Suburbia	289
	Appropriated Memories	299
	Inheriting Exile	306
	Un Testimonio	309
	The Grand Finale	312
	Memoirs of a Tampena	313
	Una cubanita pasada por agua	317
	Cata's "pie" de guayaba	320
	Select Bibliography	321

Editorial Reviews

In 1996 after a 36-year absence, Mendoza--a photographer by trade--returned to his native Cuba. This book, based on the photos and interviews he conducted on his trip, is a remarkable first-hand account of today's Cuba. Burdened both by the loss of Soviet aid and the American embargo, he concludes, Cuba is a testimony to the failure of Castro's socialism. He reports that he encountered very few Castro supporters and found numerous Cubans willing to speak out against the failed social experiment. He often heard them say "Fidel is no economist"--something he reflects upon through the lens of his camera. Like others, Mendoza decides that Cubans would be better off if the United States did not push so hard for an end to Castro and left him alone to deal with failure. Similar to Andrei Codrescu's Ay, Cuba! (LJ 3/1/99), this volume is best summarized in a series of photos of a Havana park bench. In each succeeding photo, the bench, much like Cuba, is dismantled by time and the very people its aims to please. Highly recommended for most libraries.--Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ.Lib., AL Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal