Finding Manana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus

by Mirta Ojito

Book Overview

A vibrant, moving memoir of prizewinning journalist and New York Times reporter Mirta Ojito and her departure from Cuba in the Mariel boatlift--an enduring story of a family caught up in the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143036602
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 0.7" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

This is a mesmerizing book of madness, desperation and one girl's flight to freedom!

The political winds of Cuba began to stir and then soon began to howl with the onset of revolution and resolution, the resolution of a multitude of people wanting to leave Cuba. Mirta, a young, intelligent girl of sixteen, never really belonged. She and her family were referred to as gusanos-"worms." They had always wanted to leave Cuba, a land where they never really fit in because of their "counterrevolutionary attitudes." Mirta believed in God, she believed in freedom and she believed that one day that Uncle Oswaldo would some day bring them to America to live out their dreams. Young girls often have dreams, dreams that never become real and drift away in time, but one fated day, on May 7 in 1980 the dream of going to America somehow became frighteningly real. In a stunning memoir that young girl, now a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, Mirta Ojito, describes the flight of her family and others in FINDING MAÑANA: A Memoir Of A Cuban Exodus. Memories, so many memories. Her mother began to tremble, to sob with fear and anticipation. Her father was rapt with the excitement of this opportunity. Mirta was a mixed bag of emotions. Uncle Oswaldo was on his way to get them. The madness, the desperation . . . there were thousands of boats toiling their way to Cuba to "rescue" those struggling to leave their homeland, a homeland that no longer wanted them. Unbeknownst to the Ojitos the MAÑANA was setting sail from New Orleans to save them, but would they be saved? And the others, what about them? It all began when Héctor Sanyustiz, in his search for freedom and refuge, crashed a bus loaded with many innocent passengers through the gates of the Peruvian embassy. The bullets flew, the bus lay on its side. His companion was shot in the head, his own leg pained him, but they were on the safe side. Would they make it? Mercedes Alvarez, unwillingly following the lead of her husband Filiberto in search of asylum at the Peruvian embassy, clutched her three small children by her side. Food was scarce, sanitation unheard of. There were thousands of people literally crammed side by side, end to end. She was pregnant and weak. Her oldest child was becoming very ill. Would they make it? And then there were the criminals and misfits, "thin men with sallow complexions, missing or rotten teeth, averted eyes, shaved heads." The boats were coming . . . I haven't been so mesmerized by a book as I have this one in quite some time. The book was so well written I could actually feel the tension and fear of the Cuban people in their exodus. It has been some time since the 128,000 Cuban refugees landed on the southern shores of southern Florida during the Carter administration, but perhaps this is the perfect time to revisit it in this stupendous book!

Nuevo Amanecer

La autora, con claridad y sencillez, muy bien expresa la historia de un pueblo que se resiste a convertirse en ente; un pueblo en donde los deseos y habilidades individuales pasan a ser meros sueños. Es la historia de las frustraciones diarias ante la imposibilidad de toda forma de individualidad. En esta obra se rinde honor a las ideas democráticas cuando nos muestra que con dedicación y sacrificios se pueden realizar las más altas aspiraciones del individuo. Esta obra es un himno a la libertad.

Gracias!

Un libro muy bien escrito que relata las memorias personales de la autora, que a la vez son las memorias de muchos, mezclado con una solida labor investigativa historica, exepcional. My ameno de leer y que nos deja con el sabor del recuerdo a muchos y a la vez con un conocimiento mas profundo sobre la historia de Cuba. Gracias a la autora por compartir sus memorias y por su profunda labor investigativa sobre los hechos que se desarrollaron en esos tumultuosos dias de 1980. Dias en los que yo solo era un pequeno ser humano en Cuba ,y no entendia, pero sentia profundamente, los sucesos que marcaban la historia de mi pais.

I loved this book!

Finding Manana was one of the best books I've ever read! Written by a New York Times journalist, Finding Manana is very well written. Sixteen when she and her family left Cuba for Miami during the 1980 Mariel boatlift, Mirta Ojito provides fascinating insight into what life was like growing up in a counter-revolutionary family in 1970s Cuba. The writer has an superb eye for detail. For anyone interested in Cuban history and the 1980 Mariel boatlift, this book is a must!

a rare success in historical writing

Mirta Ojito attempts a very unusual kind of history-writing and pulls it off to an uncommonly successful degree. Cuba under Castro is a difficult, contentious subject. Many journalists have lost their bearings and produced works that are superficial at best and self-absorbed at worst. Ojito herself took part in the Mariel exodus and treats her own experience in a manner that's dignified as well as personable. In addition, she analyzes the events and provides a genuine historical context. Ojito's dual approach to history avoids the pitfalls of first-person journalism and is replete with insights that will stand the test of time.