Caribbean Books

Abeng is an incredible work of post-colonial literature, that via the life of protagonist Clare Savage, vividly explores the notions and ways in which racism, colourism, homophobia and economic-class division has embedded itself in the social fabric of British-dominated Jamaica.

While I cannot describe in totality the immense power such writing has---if I were to advise the potential reader of anything they should seek in the text it would be the parallel identity Clare feels between the cultural attachments and perspectives of her parents Boy and Kitty. And subsequently how their behaviour is exemplified through the world at large around Clare. "She felt split into two parts---white and not white, town and country, scholarship and privilege, Boy and Kitty (Cliff 119.")

Boy engrossed in his own sad hegemony, is a "cuffy"-want-to-be "Buckra" * The epitome of the social problems facing Jamaican society, his denial of his own "blackness" has led him to despise and criticise those whose pigmentation is darker than his, whose economic situation is more desolate---and particularly those whose connections to their African heritage have not been severed. He carries with him the belief that western idealisms and civilisation are superior.

Kitty, also of multi-racial heritage is the near opposite of her husband. She cherishes her Black ancestry, but as Cliff indirectly (and then directly towards the end) notes in the novel, her love of Blackness is rooted in victimisation and kept secret from her bigot husband. While she may appear to be submissive to the reader, she is indeed the stronger half in her marriage; and just as strong of a influence on her Daughter(s) as Boy.

I absolutely recommend this novel to any interested reader, more than another piece of liberal-historical fiction, Abeng is likely to invoke various reactions from the reader. As a woman of colour, born into a post-colonial British-Native American family (Gros Ventre tribe/Lac Courte Orielles tribes) this novel has further heightened my appreciation of the commonalities all colonised individuals share, irregardless of exact societal or geographic location.

*cuffy: hegemonic individual.
*Buckra: "white person" Jamaica
Internal Quotation from Abeng.

I am considering teaching Abeng in a literature class and am shocked to see that it had only been reviewed by one customer. It is a striking and powerful book.

Abeng is a coming-of-age story about a bi-racial adolescent girl in Jamaica who must face questions of race, class, sexuality, dominant ideology and identity. The book is also a stirring exploration of the fragility of friendship; it depicts trust, betrayal, and redemption. It is also a geography of the complexity and nuance of family. There are very few books that can handle such complex subject matter with the honesty and lyricism found here. I read this book several years ago and it has stayed with me. I should point out that it is at times disturbing, but also funny, moving, and thought-provoking. Sometimes I return to the last passages since they so beautifully convey the poignancy of childhood. Ultimately the book traces the early formation of the protagonist's revolutionary consciousness.

The plot meanders somewhat and skirts ideological analysis. However, in the end all the strands dovetail beautifully. The language, imagery, and symbolism are rich. Abeng shows us how our hearts and minds are born of the world around us, but also that we can change that world by discovering new worlds inside of us.

An excellent job of narrating the recovery of lost material from existing documentation. The footnotes are well researched. The topic is fascinating, and the insights of the editors very useful. However, I would have liked to see an additional index with entry using English terms as well as the existing index of Taino words.

In addition, in analysis of a culture so intimately linked and so knowledgeable of nature as the Tainos, one should also take into account biological reality. For instance, it seems clear to a biologist that Mácocael, "he of the lidless eyes:' page 6 of the text may well be the great rainbow boa, Epicrates spp., Ma-ja, the great snake, since this serpent, like most boas, has lidless eyes.

An excellent job of narrating the recovery of lost material from existing documentation. The footnotes are well researched. The topic is fascinating, and the insights of the editors very useful. However, I would have liked to see an additional index with entry using English terms as well as the existing index of Taino words.

In addition, in analysis of a culture so intimately linked and so knowledgeable of nature as the Tainos, one should also take into account biological reality. For instance, it seems clear to a biologist that Mácocael, "he of the lidless eyes:' page 6 of the text may well be the great rainbow boa, Epicrates spp., Ma-ja, the great snake, since this serpent, like most boas, has lidless eyes.

"Recommended for visitors who want to research a trip ahead of time and take the book along for repeated reference. Outdoor activities in Bermuda, from coral island hideaways to touring the parishes. Also exhaustive information on hotels and restaurants. An excellent guide." The Bookwatch

"These useful guides are highly recommended... " Library Journal "[Adventure Guides] direct you away from the theme parks and into the great outdoors... the information on trekking routes, canoeing, wildlife refuges - even golf courses - is well researched." The Sunday Telegraph "...intended for the adventure-minded travelers with special affection for the outdoors and nature. Each Adventure Guide packs in outdoor-oriented activities set in different regions. There's something for nearly everyone." Midwest Book Review

"[The authors] are known for their attention to details." Chicago Daily Herald

This travel guide walks with the adventurous traveler to the heart of Jamaica, to the miles of sand beaches, to the rugged Blue Mountains, to the country villages that provide a peek at the real Jamaica. The authors focus on the adventures this island has to offer: scuba diving along coral reefs, biking mountain trails, deep sea fishing, parasailing, windsurfing, horseback riding, and other adventures that range from mild to wild.

Special sections include a look at Jamaica's Meet the People program, home visits, local nightspots, festivals, and more.

This is a highly informative guidebook that reviews both the obvious and obscure. The Bahamas has so much to offer and this book really manages to cover quite a bit. I highly recommend it for someone that wants an insight into each of the islands that make up the Bahamas.

Now in an updated fourth edition, The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos is a travel guide covering the 700+ islands of the Bahamas as well as the Turks and Caicos. Fabulously illustrated with full color photographs on virtually every page, The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos lists the best hotels in different price ranges, restaurants, dive sites, dive operators, tours, fishing guides, historic forts and pirate hideouts, where one can walk through tropical forests or play with dolphins, find duty-free shops with bargains, and much more. An easy-to-use, reader-friendly field guide printed on durable, high-quality paper ideal for withstanding the rigors of travel. Highly recommended for tourists and business travelers alike.

Choice Magazine, April 2000, Vol. 37, No. 8
The 12 papers in this collection treat the archaeology of African slaves and their descendants in the Caribbean islands and are written by regional specialists heavily involved in fieldwork. Included are studies on excavations of plantations, workers' houses, freedmen's homes, and cemeteries. More specialized papers discuss ceramics, both those produced in Africa and those obtained from European sources; architectural styles; and, broadly speaking, material culture. An adequate selection of maps and photographs of archaeological sites and cultural remains spice this significant contribution to an expanding body of studies that has followed Jerome Handler's pioneering work of the early 1960s in Barbados. This constitutes perhaps the first published volume devoted to African sites in the Caribbean. Carihbean specialists and those more generally interested in the archaeology of the African presence will appreciate its contributions. Their students will appreciate the ! ! definitive bibliography. Venturesome readers interested in the region, folk culture, and archaeological research in general will also find much to hold their attention.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"No temples, pyramids or lost cities-Caribbean architecture has long been the Cinderella at the ball of American archaeology. Yet, arguably nowhere else in the world have so many `parts' been constructed, subverted or ignored as in the many islands of the Caribbean.
"After 500 years of colonial history, the Caribbean remains a cultural mosaic....African, European and Asian peoples have moved (or been moved) into the region. The archaeological traces of this population transfusion are the focus of their book-a fascinating and timely snapshot of current work in Afro-Caribbean archaeology."
-Times (London) Higher Education Supplement

I think it is great that Arturo Arias' novel "After the Bombs" was translated into English, but if you want to truly enjoy and appreciate this novel, you should read the original version written in Spanish ("Despues de las Bombas"). You can purchase the novel in Spanish (which is not offered here on Amazon.com) by going to (...)

The reason I recommend the Spanish version versus the English one is because when texts are translated, many things are lost in the process of translation. The author wrote his novel in Spanish, and so he intended for his readers to read it in Spanish.

I also recommend the reader to read about Guatemalan history (1944-1970s) before reading this book, to be able to fully understand and relate what was going on in Guatemala during the bombings in 1954.

If you want to read more about Guatemalan history, I recommend the following:

"Por favor, nunca más : (testimonios de mujeres, víctimas del conflicto armado en Guatemala)". Guatemala, Guatemala : Ayuda de la Iglesia Noruega, 1997.

Falla, Ricardo. "Massacres in the Jungle: Ixcán, Guatemala, 1975-1982". Boulder: Westview Press, 1994.

Payeras, Mario. "Days of the jungle : the testimony of a Guatemalan guerrillero, 1972-1976". New York, N.Y. : Monthly Review Press, c1983.

Simon, Jean-Marie. "Guatemala: eternal spring, eternal tyranny". New York: Norton, 1988, ©1987.

Wilkinson, Daniel. "Silence On The Mountain: Stories Of Terror, Betrayal, And Forgetting In Guatemala (American Encounters/Global Interactions)". Duke University Press, 2004.

Schlesinger, Stephen C. "Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala". Harvard University Press; Expanded edition (August, 1999).

A story of a boy growing up in post-coup (1954) Guatemala. The language, even though it has been translated, is beautiful. It has the impact and brevity of Hemmingway with the acid absurdity of Vonnegut. I highly reccommend this book to anyone who wants to learn a bit about recent Guatemalen history or just wants a great book. Excellent choice for students or anyone.

Armando Hart's Aldabonazo is a first-hand, concrete-and riveting-account of how Cuba's deep-going popular revolution developed in the urban underground by a long time central leader of the revolution and one of Latin America's most respected and honored writers.

This story, enriched by documents, letters, and news releases, shows how U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista's 1952 election-canceling coup provoked widespread outrage among a layer of young people. Aldabonazo (Spanish for a sharp, warning knock on the door-and a rallying cry in the early days of the revolution) documents the debates that opened up among these youth as to what strategy and tactics, as well as what social forces should be looked to for the leadership of the struggle to liberate their country.

It recounts the courageous actions they took to reach that goal and the central place in this of the armed attack on the Moncada barracks led by Fidel Castro on July 26, 1953. It explains how this action earned Fidel the leadership among these revolutionary forces. But it also highlights Castro's ability to unite in action with all those who really wanted to fight the dictatorship.

For the Fidelistas, Hart explains, the means used to overthrow the dictator were equally important as the change of regime in and of itself. This was a movement that saw the road to political democracy unalterably meshed with a mass popular struggle for social and economic justice. A movement that came to see the struggle for socialism as the only way to continue the historic fight for Cuban independence and the abolition of slavery and racial oppression as led by such heroes as Carlos Manuel de Cespedes and Jose Marti.

Many of those seeking to learn the lessons of the Cuban revolution that this book makes available so richly will be struck by the difference in strategy and tactics used by the Fidelistas in contrast to those of what the media calls the "resistance" currently attacking U.S. occupation forces in Iraq. Wishfully thinking there can be a shortcut to the difficult process of uniting a revolutionary and anti-imperialist vanguard as was done in Cuba, a process not yet evident in Iraq today, many opponents of the brutal U.S. invasion put an equal sign between the Iraqi "resistance" and that of genuine popular movements against imperialism. A careful examination of the way Cuba's revolutionary forces oriented towards winning the masses-as opposed to seeking to terrorize, divide, and keep them out of revolutionary politics, as do the elements of the defeated Baathist regime and other bourgeois nationalist reactionary forces in the region-provides a useful reality check for those who want to effectively fight imperialist war today.

Pathfinder Press' new English language edition-as well as a new edition making the work available to Spanish-speaking readers after half a decade-makes this book available to many for the first time in an updated version prepared in collaboration with the author. The new volumes continue Pathfinder's outstanding work in presenting glossaries; chronologies, photo signatures, an index and maps that help all readers approach this account more closely as political equals.

This great book is unqiue because it charts the course of struggle by the leader of the July 26 movement's urban resistance. Moreover, it is told vividly because Armando Hart's skill as a writer is reknowned through Latin America and the Spanish speaking world. Pathfinder Press put out a new edition of this book in English and Spanish, working closely with Armando Hart and Cuban historians and fighters. The new book contains extensive pictures, documents and a fine glossary and chronology of Cuban and world history.

In this firsthand account by one of the historic leaders of the Cuban Revolution, we meet many of the men and women who in the 1950s led the urban underground in the fight against the brutal U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship. Together with their comrades-in-arms of the Rebel Army, they not only brought down the tyranny, but their example changed the history of the 20th century-and the century to come. Contains many never-before-published documents and letters from the period.Armando Hart was one of the central organizers of the urban underground. For more than four decades he has been a leader of the revolutionary government, serving as minister of education and minister of culture, as well as a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba.

While the Brand New Edition may not be available from Amazon, the new Spanish and English editions of this book are available from BooksfromPathfinder, an Amazon store you can find by clicking on new and used books at the top of this page.

Ian Graham's intelligent and accessible biography of the great Mayanist Alfred Maudslay is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of archaeology in the Maya region. Graham helps you see the difficulty and cost, both financial and personal, that this kind of obsession creates, making Maudslay's work that much more compelling. The only downside (smile) to reading this book is that you may be forced (forced!) as I was, to find a decent and expensive copy of the Maudslay archaeology volumes of Biologia Centrali-Americana, which becomes a must-have, once you've read Graham.

A long overdue biography of the great mayanist traveller, explorer and early archaeologist. Graham does a good job of weaving together information from personal interviews, letters, journals and notes. I found it a highly readable and informative account of his life and accomplishments. It lends a human touch to a name which comes up over and over in reading on the ancient Maya. It also provides a fascinating early travelogue of central america 50 years after Stephens and Catherwood. Graham has a keen appreciation of the challenges Maudslay faced in his self appointed task of recording as many mayan monuments and inscriptions as he could, a career path which indeed echoes his own.

Morgan's story is almost too amazing to believe. A hapless soul with nothing to lose -- kicked out of schools and dishonorably discharged from the army -- washes up in Cuba and within months becomes a Cuban national hero?! This gringo didn't even speak Spanish and now (thanks to this book) has a legitimate claim to being properly recognized as one of the genuine heroes of the Cuban revolution. Just look at the cover with this dropout from Ohio walking arm-in-arm with Che and Castro.

This is a wonderful story of charisma, good timing, and derring-do -- and how someone really can have a second act in life. And what a second act: a drifter morphing into a central player on the international stage. The book offers a lot of color on the "peripheral characters" in Morgan's story, like Castro (a closet Communist at the time), the NY Times mischief-maker Herbert Matthews, and the ruthless Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo.

The book shares Morgan's charisma and good timing. It's fun, runs fast, and is full of endearing details to make you fall in love with the guy. Timingwise, it's perfect. The old timers who know what really happened were muzzled by Castro for the last fifty years. They're (mostly) not dead yet, but old enough to spill their guts without fear of retribution. Shetterly does a nice job of getting them to talk, which makes all the difference in this charming story of a forgotten/censored corner of US and Cuban history.

There is no shortage of biographies on historical figures. Year after year, we're inundated with new editions on Kennedy and King, Lincoln and Leonardo da Vinci, each purporting to shine a new light on the great individual and their role in history. However, it's often the stories of people who have been lost to history that truly bring the particulars of a certain era into sharp focus. Such is the case with Aran Shetterly's The Americano, the story of William Morgan, a man from Toledo who fought alongside the rebels in the Cuban revolution.

A misfit whose taste for adventure was way bigger than the middle American sensibilities of his native Toledo, William Morgan, after years of mixing it up with small time hoodlums and a troublesome stint in the US Army, finds his way to Cuba, where he enlists with the rebel group the Second National Front of the Escambray. Within months, The Americano, as he is affectionately christened by his new comrades, is one of the unit's leaders, and on his way to becoming one of the central figures in the revolution and a Cuban celebrity.

Morgan rubs shoulders with all of the well-known usual suspects: the Cuban dictator Batista and the Dominican dictator Trujillo, the Argentine rebel commander Che Guevara, Ernest Hemingway, J. Edgar Hoover and the "jefe" himself, Fidel Castro. Shetterly delivers all of the requisite historical detail--names and roles of characters from important to incidental, all the relevant dates and locations, geopolitical backstory--but locates it all within a narrative that is as compelling and cinematic as any story I've read recently, fiction or non-fiction. By the time your come to the breathtaking ending--which somehow still feels like a surprise, even though it's previewed from the beginning--you're well-versed in the nuances of the Cuban story, *and* you've had one rollercoaster of a read.

Cubaphiles regardless of their persuasion will have a field day with this book, as it's exhaustively researched and offers the kind of detail that is usually found in more academic (read: boring) treatments of important moments in history. However, The Americano is so accessible and engaging that those of us with just a cursory knowledge of the history will turn the last page completely satisfied. Highly recommended!