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The Autobiography of Fidel Castro
An audacious “biography” of the ex-president of Cuba told in Castro’s own outrageous, bombastic voice.
Prize-winning author and journalist Norberto Fuentes was once a revolutionary: a writer with privileged access to Fidel Castro’s inner circle during some the most challenging years of the revolution. But in the late 1990s, as the regime began sending its oldest comrades t ...more
Prize-winning author and journalist Norberto Fuentes was once a revolutionary: a writer with privileged access to Fidel Castro’s inner circle during some the most challenging years of the revolution. But in the late 1990s, as the regime began sending its oldest comrades t ...more
Hardcover
,
567 pages
Published
December 7th 2009
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published June 30th 2004)
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Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
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190)
why do the bad guys always dress better? JFK was alright in his saville row suit and brooks brothers shirt, but really - the fascists communists and tyrants are mean bastards but they look cool and iconic and iconoclastic. compare fidel and some of his american counterparts through the years:
badass. (check out che and camilo on the side)
gross.
aaaaaahhhhh!
the flight suit actually makes him look like an even bigger douchebag.
i must admit that obama looks pretty cool.
but that might be just because ...more
badass. (check out che and camilo on the side)
gross.
aaaaaahhhhh!
the flight suit actually makes him look like an even bigger douchebag.
i must admit that obama looks pretty cool.
but that might be just because ...more
view all 46 comments
ever since reading these damn ellroy books, my watchwords have been "let's kill communists!" strange for a young man with a CPUSA poster on his walls, but there you go. let's ride this wave while it's heavy, and learn more about a part of the world i've never really studied.
Feb 11, 2010
Josette
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fidel fascinators
Shelves:
started-but-never-finished
Well, it wasn't a book I had intended to read and just happened to fall upon it recently. I was only given two weeks to check out the book, since it was new to the library (and it had a hold so I couldn't renew it). So I didn't get to finish the almost 550 pages. And it wasn't holding my attention enough to easily read 100 pages or so in one sitting. Needless to say, I gave it only two stars based on how far I got (first two sections - not chapters). It was an intriguing read with the arrogant,
...more
In this "deliciously wicked" (
San Francisco Chronicle
) infusion of history and satire, Fuentes truly captures the spirit of Fidel Castro--monumentally proud, manipulative, and cynical. He skillfully imitates the Cuban leader's voice, though the
New York Times
declared that Fuentes's Castro sometimes sinks into the realm of caricature, and the
San Francisco Chronicle
complained that he is devoid of all positive human emotions--something his most virulent enemies do not even assert. Despite his sl
...more
I don't know what to make of this one. It's fiction cast as an autobiography of Fidel Castro--a long, rambling chronicle that, on the one hand, reads so much like nonfiction that it's hard to take seriously as a literary effort but that, on the other hand, has such an anti-Castro polemic intent that it's hard to take seriously as history. The point is that, for Castro, the revolution had nothing to do with ideology; he himself was the revolution, and whatever strategy put & kept him in power
...more
Oct 17, 2012
Larry
added it
Honestly if someone has never been a reader and wanted to take up the habit of reading: he/she should not read this as his/her first book. Honestly this book doesnt have to be read at all. Its boring, most of it just seem like a fairy tale, its not captivating, its actually the worst book I've read and I think its a waste of time and money.
As with all books about this personality, there is going to be some controversy and some things that are just plain unbelievable. This source however served as Fidel's number 2 for several years and probably has the most accurate first-person voice. And it's well written too!
A best-seller to pneumoniaphiles and 20th century clones of Third Reich head of propaganda Heinz Heini. The book is a blueprint of how to censor opposition and murder originators. A 'must-read' for internet censors and anti-establishment currmugions.
Ugh...he's so pompous. I keep trying to read this one too since our trip but he's so obnoxious I have to take it in doses.
it helps if you are interested in cuba and/or castro. hard to get through at times...but once you get into it..its fascinating.
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Journalist, award-winning fiction author, and former member of the Cuban revolution, Norberto Fuentes has written ten books, including
Hemingway in Cuba
. His work has been praised by writers such as Italo Calvino, William Kennedy, and Gabriel García Márquez. He left Cuba in 1994 and now lives in exile in Florida.
More about Norberto Fuentes...
