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 enlarge | Author: Lea Aschkenas
Publisher: Seal Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $6.27
You Save: $9.68 (61%)
New (15) Used (16) from $3.38
Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 223217
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 360
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 1580051790
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.291
EAN: 9781580051798
ASIN: 1580051790
Publication Date: November 29, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New!
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Life Between Two Shores January 19, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I picked this book for our book club after reading a review in the Pomona College Magazine. We live and work in Claremont and wanted to support a local graduate.
We all enjoyed the book and it led to a lively discussion on politics, third world values and love bridging two cultures. We all would like to know the next chapter. A good and interesting read to stimulate your mind.
 Bravo! A marvelous read! December 23, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I truly enjoyed reading this adventurous story of love and societal observation. I was moved by the author's quest to understand the incredible differences that can exist in a country which is virtually a stone's throw from the land of opportunity. She wonderfully conveyed how the Cuban people are able to find beauty and humor under trying circumstances. It is a tale that captures a peoples' passion for life in a delightful, sometimes surprising way.
In short, it is moving and thought-provoking - a book well worth reading!
Es Cuba: Life and Love on an Illegal Island August 31, 2006
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a good book because it is interesting and it gives a lot of information about Cuba. An enjoyable summer read.
Beautifully written! June 22, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
We know all about the politics... so how about the people? Lea Aschkenas tells us in her moving account of falling in love in Cuba.
A set of circumstances and a desire to learn Spanish put her where few Americans go. She starts off in the cacoon of a tourist hotel and moves (down) to a room the landlord sacrifices greatly to bring it to what we might award 1 or 2 stars, and in the end goes (way down) nearly native.
Along the way she meets Cubans and tells us how they cope. The revolution has brought them free health care (but not free medicine), education (but not jobs to go with it) and afforable symphony music. A schoolteacher tells how cleans her carpet with a t-shirt because brooms (she does not even consider a vacuum cleaner) cost US$.. so it takes her 3 hours.
Lea meets Alfredo, and he is unabashedly in love with her. She worries that the cultural divide is too great, but slips into love with him. Alfredo introduces Lea to the many alternate ways to provide life's small pleasures and she introduces them to us.
A very satisfying book about ordinary people, living their lives in Cuba.
Human nature, love, humility June 6, 2006
This is a true story. I applaud the author, Lea Ashkenas, for opening up to the world about her personal experience with love and life in Cuba.
Written with humility, Lea allows us to experience and see her humanity and those of the Cuban people with whom she made friends with. Through her appreciation of the subtle nuances of human behaviour, especially in the most important relationships in our lives (family, marriage, and friends) "Es Cuba" reveals the beautiful complexities of human nature, no matter where you're from.
This book personally touched me as I was able to relate to it on a personal level. It was informative, but still personal to the author. It was gripping, hilarious at times, and touching.
I think this book is a wonderful example of experiencing love... within yourself, with a country and with another person.
Bravo Lea! And I wish you and Alfredo all the best!
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