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Los Desengaños

MEMORIES OF A PLACE

An affecting, informative amalgam of personal and national history.

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A memoir that situates personal remembrance within the tumult of the Cuban revolution.

Debut author Tischler’s father, Adolfo Sanchez, split his young adulthood between the United States and his native Cuba. After inheriting some property in Cuba that included the ruins of an old sugar mill, he moved back to the island nation around 1930, during economically bright times that Cubans commonly referred to as the “dance of the millions.” Filled with hopeful anticipation, he borrowed heavily to expand his property and convert it into a cattle ranch, and then the financial devastation of the Depression hit. However, Adolfo’s ranch, after some trying years, eventually became a steady success; the author grew up in comparative prosperity, which allowed her to receive some of her education in the United States. However, much tougher times were just around the bend, and Tischler vividly remembers hearing news on the radio that Cuban president Fulgencio Batista “had simply taken over the government.” The author later met her husband in Florida, and for a time they lived in Cuba together when he found work in the town of Nicaro. But the political environment continued to deteriorate, and her brother, Oli, tragically lost his life as a consequence. Angela’s husband lost his job because of his lack of sympathy for the Cuban revolution (the letter of termination is extraordinary), and they finally relocated to the United States. The author’s prose is philosophically charged and often wryly funny, filled with sociological aperçus: “Americans have an undying faith that their government will get them out of whatever mess they get into,” she writes. “We Cubans don’t expect anything from our government and least of all, in our present situation.” Also, she manages to convey a heartbreaking tale of personal loss and political folly without mordant sentimentality or grim fatalism. Although not every reader will be enthralled by the detailed accounts of her family genealogy, the story aspires to more general history and universal relevance. As such, she deftly braids together her autobiography and the story of the life of Cuba, and her love of her homeland, despite its decline, is endearing. Finally, she provides a welcome alternative to other accounts of the Cuban revolution by American journalists and academics.

An affecting, informative amalgam of personal and national history. 

Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-9838519-1-2

Page Count: 256

Publisher: A Swan Song Book

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.

Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955

ISBN: 0670717797

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955

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