Havana without Makeup: Inside the Soul of the City

by Herman Portocarero, Joaquin Portocarero (Photographer)

Overview

"Part memoir, part history and part travelogue, Havana without Makeup … take[s] you places you would never find in a guide book."—Mimi Whitefield, Miami Herald
"The story Portocarero weaves here is rich and fascinating, and vital to understanding an often mysterious place."—Patrick Oppmann, CNN Havana Correspondent and Bureau Chief

Havana without Makeup is the ultimate insider’s view of Havana, a wide-ranging exploration of its complex facets as seen by few. Its aim is to capture the soul of a city and a society that have evolved on their own terms at the moment before they face inevitable transformations.

Opening on the eve of the announcement of reconciliation between the U.S. and Cuba, the book then looks back at the cultural, political, economic, and religious influences that led up to this historic moment and beyond. Readers are led by a brilliant renaissance man and writer who has been at the vanguard of the city’s struggles for more than twenty years. Portocarero’s anti-tourist guide to Havana examines the built environment of “the most sensual ruin on the planet”: why are large parts of the city so neglected, and what changes may we see over the coming years? Examining all things Cubania—racial issues, la revolución, baseball, Hemingway, communism, synagogues, Santeria, Cimarron culture, and much more—Portocarero overturns every stone in his endeavor to bring us inside the city he loves.

Illustrated with original photographs, this is a unique and essential account of Havana’s history, its present, and what its future may hold.

Herman Portocarero is a Belgian-born writer and diplomat of Spanish and Portuguese descent. He has published more than twenty works of fiction and nonfiction, including the Hercule Poirot Prize-winning crime novel New Yorkse Nachten (New York Nights). Between 1995 and 2017, he was ambassador in Havana for his native country and later for the European Union, where he developed a deep professional and personal relationship with Cuba, Havana, and her people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933527888
Publisher:	Turtle Point Press
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Herman Portocarero is a Belgian-born writer of Spanish and Portuguese descent. He has published more than twenty works of fiction and nonfiction in Europe. Between 1995 and 2017, he was ambassador in Havana for his native country and later for the European Union, and developed a deep professional and personal relationship with Cuba, Havana, and her people.

Table of Contents

Contents

1. Walls of Illusion 3

2. Exceptional 6

3. Nocturnas (Havana-By-Night) 7

4. Afro Cuba 10

5. Havana in Black and White 12

6. Rumba 13

7. Santeria 14

8. Santeria and the Racial Divide 15

9. Communist Orishas? 16

10. Salsa! 19

11. Asia de Cuba 20

12. ‘Achinado’ 22

13. Sex & Cenesex 23

14. Tremenda Mariconada! 25

15. Havana’s Hour Zero 26

16. Proposal for a Controversial Monument 27

17. Good Money, Bad Money 29

18. The Economy as a Book and a Beast 30

19. Looking West – To Asia Again 32

20. La Mula Como Vaca De Leche 34

21. La Libreta 35

22. El Canonazo 37

23. The Last Salvo 39

24. A Defining Moment 40

25. It Takes (At Least) Two to Rumba 42

26. Sitting Down (And More) With Europe 44

27. Cuba No Soy (I Am Not Cuba) 47

28. Trafic Lights of History 48

29. Ghosts of Revolutions Past 50

30. Much Louder Ghosts 52

31. Napoleon in Cuba 53

32. The Orestes Ferrara Secret 55

33. The Cave at the End of the World 57

34. Conversation in Café del Oriente 60

35. Palacio de la Revolucion 63

36. Who’s the Terrorist? 64

37. Parque Lenin 66

38. Playas del este 67

39. Jardines de la Tropical 69

40. Two Shores of Art Deco 70

41. Rum and Cigar Wars 71

42. Waves Over the Walls 72

43. Patria es Humanidad es Patria 75

44. Havana’s Palestinians 76

45. Next Year in Havana / Jerusalem 78

46. Cantos de Ida y Vuelta 81

47. Mulatas de Rumba & Puellae Gaditanae 84

48. Alma Mater 85

49. God’s Crocodile 88

50. La Fabrica 90

51. Mercenaries 91

52. Bloggers Breakfast 93

53. Primero de Mayo 94

54. The Pen & the Sword 96

55. Prima Ballerina Assoluta 100

56. Le Parisien 102

57. Hatuey & Huracan 103

58. Todo el Mundo Canta 105

59. Who’s the Boss? 107

60. The Holy Spirit on the Plaza de la Revolucion 108

61. Winners and Losers 109

62. Jacobins & Dinosaurs 110

63. Other Churches, Other Gods 111

64. Misionero de la Misericordia 113

65. Mozart in Havana 115

66. Art & Politics 116

67. Pelota 117

68. The United Mobsters 120

69. Una Mal Criada 122

70. Hollywood Havana 123

71. Pirates of all Kinds 125

72. Elian 128

73. New York Connections 130

74. Music has no enemies? 131

75. El Paquete 133

76. Hemingway 134

77. Fuster 136

78. The Last Cimmaron 137

79. Fabelo 139

80. KCHO/STAINLESS/CUTY 140

81. Casa Verde 142

82. Rio Almendares 145

83. Havana and the Chocolate Factory 145

84. Tallapiedra (Havana High Line) 146

85. Radio Reloj & Radio Bemba 148

86. La Muerte 149

87. Apotheosis 150

Editorial Reviews

"There are many writers who think they know the city of Havana. But there are few who feel its pulse like their own heartbeat. Herman Portocarero is one of those rare writers. Unable to sleep at night worrying about Havana’s future, he offers us a book brimming with love for his adopted city, chronicling its shifting moods of hope and despair. Fluidly moving between past and present, culture and politics, memoir and travelogue, Portocarero’s Havana Without Makeup is a stunning homage to a city that casts a spell on all who experience it."—Ruth Behar, author of An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba and Lucky Broken Girl

“Passionate and provocative, Havana Without Makeup provides an uncommonly insightful and empathetic portrait of a city, country, and people steeped in eroticism, eccentricity and enigma.” —Christopher P. Baker, author of Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba and the National Geographic Traveler Cuba and Moon Cuba guidebooks

"[Portocarero is] an ardent advocate for a city electrified with life and passion. Havana emerges as a city like no other: a place where humans, in many ways, are at their most vibrantly human."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2017-05-21
A former Belgian ambassador (1995-2017) to Cuba pens a temperate love letter to Havana.Portocarero (All Demons' Day: The Havana Pirate Manuscript, 2008, etc.), who has published extensively in Europe, tells us that he is not offering an academic but a personal history: "a rambling walkabout," he calls it. And so it is. In nearly 90 small subsections, the author takes us to various neighborhoods, monuments, ruins, and street festivals; introduces us to artists; and briefly discusses a wide range of subjects, from religion to Hemingway to revolution to the Bay of Pigs to papal visits and to the recent historic return of the U.S. in the person of President Barack Obama, of whom Portocarero is clearly a fan. Some of the author's topics are what readers will expect, but there are others that will no doubt surprise—e.g., the increasing Muslim presence, a classical ballet company, the history of slavery, the rise of soccer popularity in a country long noted for its baseball-mania, and the death penalty, which has been outlawed since 2005. (Oddly, Portocarero does not discuss the health care system.) The author also makes continual note of the carnal aspects of Cuban life, from decades ago to the present. He admits that many people associate such things with Havana, and he finds them appealing himself. He repeatedly laments the sad state of the historical buildings and homes in and around the city, and he believes many are beyond repair. Refreshingly, the author is not afraid to mention things he does not admire—the limited freedoms, the government-controlled press, the economic models the country embraces—but he remains an ardent advocate for a city electrified with life and passion. Havana emerges as a city like no other: a place where humans, in many ways, are at their most vibrantly human.

Kirkus Reviews