Cuba before Castro

A Century of Family Memoirs

Jorge J. E. Gracia

• Publisher: Hamilton Books
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9780761872146
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

Although much has been written about Cuba after Castro, relatively little has been written about Cuba before Castro. The political reality of Castro's Revolution has created a historical void about this period, paying insufficient attention to an important century before 1959. Cuba has become a political punching bag, between supporters and critics of Castro and the Revolution, making it difficult to understand real life in Cuba because of the disproportionate preoccupation with, and monopoly of, the political reality on the island. In spite of some attempts, it continues to be easier and perceived as more pressing, to write about politics rather than the reality that Cubans experienced in their daily lives— their sufferings and celebrations, successes and failures, lives and deaths, and beliefs and disbeliefs. Going for and against the avalanche of information about the political authenticity in and out of Cuba, most Cubans have tended to forget that Cuba is much larger than the perceived reality after Castro's Revolution. Too many have failed to remember the Cubans who have lived and worked in Cuba in the century before an important period of Cuban history where the nation was forged. Indeed, even limited attention reveals a rich and sophisticated society that calls for study.

In this book Jorge J.E. Gracia approaches this situation by telling true stories about some members of his family (Doctor Ignacio Gracia, Maruca Otero, the Marques de Arguelles, and many others) who lived during a culturally rich century before Castro. He hopes to entice historians, academics, tourists and others, to pursue a balanced exploration of the island by telling part of their stories. This enterprise is neither history nor fiction, but memories written by a Cuban who left Cuba when he was eighteen years old and has become a distinguished philosopher in the United States.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Names and Identity. What’s in a Name?
• “ Je Suis Française !”
• Escaping Mexican Wrath
• The Jesuits Stole My Inheritance
• Poetry, Spirits, and Flair
• Treasure Trove for Christmas
• Promising Future Comes to Naught
• Una Señora Muy Aseñorada
• Unexpected Success
• The Storyteller
• Bedroom Suite for a Pompadour
• “¡España Es Nuestra Madre Patria!”
• Better Marry Than Burn
• The Marquis’ Mistress
• Ruined by a Hurricane and Resentment Against Spaniards
• Tears from a “Bileless Dove”
• Murdered by the Guardia Civil
• La Dolorosa’s Miracle
• Promising Beginning and Sad End
• Is Having to Work Punishment for Sin?
• Broken Promise
• A Twenty-Five Year Engagement
• Romance on a Scale
• “Te Voy a Capar”
• A Gentleman Farmer at Heart
• Running Away from Home
• A Boy’s Best Friends
• A Bad Dream Comes True
• Rebel with a Cause
• A Philosophy of Underwear
• End of Paradise
• The Bully
• First Holy Communion
• Summers at the Beach
• Yearly Audit and Crocodile Tears
• Lean Years
• Written in the Stars
• A Night to Forget
• The Refuge of Faith
• The Consolation of Giving
• An Interim Abode
• Long Journey Into Darkness
• Bicycles Are for Boys
• Nena’s Insistent Gay Suitor
• Looking for Domestic Help
• María “Picadillo”
• “¡Yo soy muy macho!”
• Teenager in Havana
• The Club
• Another Call
• The Cursed Plantation
• Sugar and Slavery
• “El Marañon Aprieta la Boca”
• “I Believe in God”
• Building Up the Spirit
• First Cracks of the Faith
• Brother Balloon
• “ ¿Y Tu Abuela, Dónde Está?”
• “Mens Sana in Corpore Sano”
• “De Eso No Se Habla ”
• Two Years of Terror
• A Beach House at Last
• Love and Prejudice
• Quest for Freedom
• School for Toy Soldiers
• A Teacher Who Could Not Teach
• “I’ve Got Wheels!”
• Playground of the Caribbean
• Chaperones
• Puppy Love
• Graduation and a Prom of Sorts
• Starved for Culture
• Recreating the Garden of Eden
• From Hope to Despair
• The University of Havana
• Alea Iacta Est
• The Bay of Pigs and a Police State
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author