The pictures of Cristina Garcia Rodero capture the corners of rural or folcloric Spain with such gripping elocuence it is almost painful.With a hint of surrealism and a sense for the right moment to capture her subjects, she reveals the hidden Spain in all its darkness and grace. The subject is impressive but it takes an artist to peel the surface and go further and that is what Cristina has done

"Los Ojos del Tejedor: The Eyes of the Weaver" is a wonderful regional story based on the author's youth. She is a descendent of the Ortega family of Chimayo. The Ortega family has been weaving in the small, rural community of Chimayo for more than eight generations and the quality of their rugs and blankets is well known. They own a store in Chimayo and in several other locations where their Hispanic style rugs and blankets are sold in many sizes. Chimayo is a mountain community north of Santa Fe best known for the Santuario de Chimayo, an old adobe church pilgrims flock to for its miracles of healing and tourists visit as a fine, historical example of New Mexico adobe churches.

This book beautifully describes Hispanic traditions and the importance of teaching the children these skills. Ten year old Cristina loves going to her grandparents' house, but she is particularly nervous about this trip. She knows that she is going to spend a week there to learn how to weave and is filled with anxiety over weaving as well as her grandfather, and she doesn't speak Spanish as well as she'd like. Her mother suggests that her cousin, who speaks better Spanish, should join her and their grandparents, and that makes Cristina feel more confident about her visit.

This delightful book moves beyond learning to weave on the loom. Cristina weaves in her own memories of Hispanic culture through other activities during this visit. Spanish words and phrases are sprinkled as regional seasoning, adding depth to the flavor of her story. A glossary of these words is found at the back to help non-Spanish speakers navigate their way through this book. Phrases are translated in the text of the book. In addition to stumbling with her grandfather's Spanish, she also picks regional vegetables from the garden and cooks traditional New Mexican foods, which also contributes to the fullness of the text.

The illustrations add a lot to the text. They are done in a "painterly" syle common among the works of the early Taos painters, supporting both the regional and historic feel of this book. The book does a beautiful and complete job of representing the New Mexico Hispanic culture and is a must for anyone who wants to learn more about this subject. But in addition to the social studies lesson, this book is about families and how they relate to one another. It is a personal story about a child's belonging to her family and rising up to their expectations with love and compassion.

A fascinating account of the ingenuity and skill of Cuban car buffs. Old American cars are kept running without the benefit of spare parts availability. It made me realize how wasteful we are in America - the Cubans would love to have access to the cars we sent to our junkyards decades ago! We go into debt to have the latest vehicle, when the one we just got rid of could have lasted a lifetime if only we had appreciated what we had and had given it the level of tender loving care that the Cubans do. The book has some very interesting stories on the Cuban car culture and how some individual 50's era American cars were kept running, and has great photos. My only complaint is that I want to know more! I want the author and photographer to go back to Cuba and take a good U.S. mechanic and a mechanical engineer with them. Then, take a lot more photos of the cars but don't limit us to the exterior. I want to see dashboards, engines, underbody, spare parts, everything! I want to see the machinery and tools inside their shops. I want to know, in full depth, all the details on how they adapt Russian parts to these cars. I want all the intimate technical details from beginning to end on a particular car. So much for the proposed sequel - Cars of Cuba gave me an evening of great pleasure as I read about and looked at pictures of Cuba's living car museum.

This book is fabulous and every admirer of American cars of that era should have it. Not only does it give you beautiful glossy pictures of a variety of old American cars in Cuba, but it places them in beautiful (and sometimes not so beautiful) Cuban settings. There is some insight into the place that these cars have in Cuban society to this day; they are actually regarded as a member of the family, not merely as transportation. I recently spent some time in Cuba and rode around in a '58 Rambler, a '53 Chevy, and a '48 Pontiac! Not that it was always a pleasant experience (the Rambler reeked of exhaust fumes; I tore my jeans climbing out of the Chevy; and the Pontiac, with a diesel truck engine, was noisier than Kennedy Airport at rush hour), but it is amazing how they manage to keep those old cars running seemingly against all odds. This book is a tribute not just to the cars themselves, but to "the most brilliant mechanics on the face of this blue-green planet," as Garcia calls them. How ironic it is that, after four decades of Soviet/Russian influence, the prerevolutionary American cars are so prized and the newer Ladas are widely scorned.

A copy of "Cars of Cuba" should be given for every owner of a trailer queen automobile and all the over-restoration adepts... For real vintage car lovers it's great to see that the old Chevys, Fords, Packards, Studes and even Hudsons are still used as daily drivers by careful owners, near 50 years after the production (the paint appearance doesn't matter). Cristina Garcia and Joshua Greene, we wait anxiously for "Cars of Cuba - tome II".

Not a lot of literature in this area. Clearly written for the non-Cuban audience. Author remains objective throughout. Perhaps a little too objective. Generally, I would recommend it, especially for exiles like me who may have been away from Miami for much of the period covered by the book.

Wonderful Text. Helps to rationalize and boost understanding on why Cubans living in Miami have such foreign behaviors in the eyes of the outsider. The author takes you by the hand, and walks you step by step. Absolutely wonderful and did an excellent job at steering clear of any bias.

Havana USA is a very thorough account of post-revolutionary Cuban migration to America. One of the interesting aspects of Cuban emigration since Castro has been the perspectives given to us by the media and the government - many of them misleading. Garcia dispels these myths with facts backed up my extensive research and personal interviews. A very interesting read.

Cristina Garcia gathers the Cuban-Chinese experience up in her graceful embrace in this lovely novel that covers more than a century and a family's adventures in Cuba, China, the US, and Vietnam. This is a slim book to take in so much, and I was left wanting more, more, more.

Garcia is an elegant writer who creates characters you immediately like and care about, and then doesn't give you enough to leave you happy. The most satisfying section of 'Monkey Hunting' is the first part, where Chen Pan leaves his village to make his way in the world. He ends up a slave in Cuba, cutting cane until he escapes and through hard work and luck sets up a second-hand shop called the Lucky Find. He marries a former slave, and a dynasty is born. Chen Pan and. Lucrecia are wonderful creations, and the world of Havana's Barrio Chino is so filled with fascinating Chinese Cubans that it would be a pleasure to stay there awhile and really get to know them. However, we seem to be only touching down here and there, never lighting very long in one place. Chen Pan's granddaughter Chen Fang gets especially short shrift, a shame because as a woman who is raised as a boy, becomes a teacher and a secret lover of women, and ultimately a victim of the Cultural Revolution, her story is certainly an interesting one. And what about Domingo Chen, who flees Castro's Cuba to come to New York and go to war in Vietnam? A great story. Tell me more.

'Monkey Hunting' could easily be twice as long and still maintain Garcia's high standards. In this shorter format she packs her prose beautifully, telling us a great deal with little. She undermines herself by being so good at imagining characters that the reader longs for more details, situations, and background than she seems to be willing to give.

From his village in China, Chen Pan, aged twenty, is tricked into indentured servitude, shipped across the oceans to Cuba, and for the next few years he will work as a slave cutting sugar cane. The year is 1857. Time rolls on. Chen Pan has children, grand-children, great grand-children. The story moves easily between the generations, between China and Cuba and the United States and Viet Nam, returning in the end to Chen Pan, now eighty years old, 1917.

There is no tightly crafted plot here, no suspense, no dramatic surprises. The book is a series of scenes, vignettes, from the lives of this remarkable family, their times, the countries where they live, social change, their loves and their losses, brief moments of optimism and joy, against a background of growing old, suffering, sorrow and clinging to memory.

It is a beautifully written, exquisite memoir. Author Garcia evokes wonderful portraits of times and places and creates engaging characters, using simple and lucid language. Once you pick up this book you will never want to put it down, for you will become part of the Chen family forever. This is a masterpiece and I can't recommend it too highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

This book present the life and destinies of a CUban family divided by its political beliefs. It presents the life of the half of the family that stayed in Cuba and pledge its allgiance to the Revolution and the life of the ones that left Cuba for the United States. The exaggeration presented in the individual characters with their tendencies, fetishes, and political views opens a window into the reality of the Cuban families that have been divided by the Revolution. Cristina García writes with a powerful voice that entices your attention.

Like other readers, I was a bit put off by the handful of characters all thrown at me at once. I had to refer to the family tree provided more than once. At one time, I put down the book, crying, This is insane! And then I got it. It is insane. Okay. I read Marquez, I get it. Once you stop wrestling with the story, trying to fit it into a conventional fiction mold, you can loosen up and enjoy the ride. Ms. Garcia is such a talented writer she can get away with anything.
I recommend this book without reserve.
Enjoy!

Este libro ha sido como una brisa fresca de recuerdos. Por supuesto, quien no ha vivido bajo un régimen comunista, no puede entender el sufrimiento y las añoranzas del cubano emigrante, y presta oídos a los cantos de sirena de El Líder, a pesar de 41 años de continuos fracasos. Como dice el refrán: "NADIE ESCARMIENTA POR CABEZA AJENA"!

I really liked Ms. Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban, and had high hopes for The Aguero Sisters. I did enjoy the book, especially the quirky characters and the way I was effortlessly carried along to the end. I enjoyed her use of French and Spanish in the story, the set of musical parents, the set of scientific parents, and the mythical characters. However, I was really disappointed in the ending. I won't spoil it for you, but my sense was that Ms. Garcia just got tired of writing and so ended the novel. I felt really let down, as I'd been hoping for some grand explanation and was given only a page of vagueness. It's still worth reading, though.

Readers who loved "Dreaming in Cuban" the way I did will like "The Aguero Sisters" a lot. They will also realize they've read this book before. It's all here: the two sisters (one in Cuba, one in the US), the wimpy husband, the lovably nutty artist daughter, the prodigal son. So, no, it's not a new novel, but it will satisfy your craving. Try it if you need a treat.

A quick read but one I enjoyed none the less. The intertwining of stories, past and present, between sisters daughters and so on makes for a book full of good ingredients. I especially loved how Constancia, one of the sisters who starts a line of beauty products, still mixes her own remedies for her skin and doesn't use the products she produces. Such a great representation of capitalism. :) I'm still seeking more in depth novels about cuban culture - if anyone has recommendations, let me know.

I really enjoyed this book. Though in some parts the proof reading seemed hasty, the well-drawn characters, extensive back story, compelling plot and thrilling adventures won out over anything else. I practically devoured this book, and hope that someday more books set in this universe will be available!

This finalist for the National Book Award tellsthe story of three generations of a Cuban family.Indelible images and vivid characters combine to create a dreamlike evocation of Cuban life. Celia del Pino is the matriarch of a family that spans from Havana to Brooklyn, New York. She is unswervingly patriotic in her support of Fidel Castro, while her daughter Lourdes in the United States has embraced her new life and its capitalism by opening a chain of bakeries. Celia's second daughter is ambivalent toward the revolution as she deals with abuse and mental illness. Mothers and daughters may disagree, but Celia's granddaughter forms an emotional bond with her faraway grandmother. Using fragmentary vignettes, Dreaming in Cuban is reminiscent of stories repeated down through the generations, and the reader feels a connection to this family. Try it if you liked How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez or The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields.

This gem of a first novel, written in 1992, by Christina Garcia is the story of Cuba as well as the story of a few unforgettable Cuban women. The words themselves have a lyrical quality as the the tale evolves through their different voices.

Set in the 1970's, Celia del Pino, in her 60s, is a loyal Cuban patriot, who lives by the sea. Her daughter, Lourdes, has fled to America and owns a bakery in Brooklyn. The other daughter, Felicia, still in Cuba, shows signs of mental unbalance and dabbles in Santeria. Her granddaughter, Pilar, a rebellious teenager, has been raised in America but feels a deep connection with her grandmother in Cuba.

There's a dreamlike quality to the book and a touch of the mystical as each character is deeply developed and the story evolves through their inner memories. Strong characterization is the author's strength as well as the way she weaves the stories of each of them together. They've all been effected by the revolution and it shapes the form of this book.

Not only did reading this book introduce me to its interesting characters, it also taught me more about the Cuban revolution than I ever learned from just reading the newspapers. And it piqued my interest in wanting to know more.

Recommended.

Here is a truly unforgettable book. I was entranced from the very first sentence: "Celia del Pino, equipped with binoculars and wearing her best housedress and drop pearl earrings, sits in her wicker swing guarding the north coast of Cuba."

From that moment on, I was drawn as surely into this book as the tides in the sea that Celia is guarding. "Dreaming in Cuban" tells the story of the Cuban Revolution from the point of view of three generations of women: the above-mentioned Celia, the grandmother; her daughters, Felicia and Lourdes; and Lourdes' own daughter, Pilar. Each of the three older women, and perhaps Pilar, a 20-ish New York artist, is quite totally mad. Thus we see and hear and feel the revolution from the hallucinatory perceptions of Celia, who worships El Lider (Castro) with ferocity; Felicia, who is torn between old Cuba--its superstitions, its voodoo, its passion--and the modern Cuba, where she is sentenced to a work camp; and Lourdes, who has escaped to Brooklyn and proudly owns the Yankee Doodle Bakery.

There is violence, murder, passion, birth and death in this book, but all told in a sort of lyrical mist, so that the reader feels the torpid heat of the Cuban day, the gentle warmth of the sea, and the breezes that stir the palms. All is dreamlike, which makes the reality of modern Cuba almost impossible to grasp. As one of the main characters says toward the end of the book: "Cuba is a peculiar exile...an island-colony. We can reach it by a thirty-minute charter flight from Miami, yet never reach it at all."

And yet, after reading this incredible book, I feel for the first time that I have some understanding of that small island nation. Or maybe it is all a dream.

The book seems to be good, but the translation is poor, and it is full of spelling errors - I only wished I had read the book in original language to really enjoy it! Between the translation and the spelling errors, it is very hard to read!! It is not a relaxing exercise any more. Pity!

This book is a wonderful story of two sisters that have lived separated for most of their lives. A view into life in Cuba and life in the US as an immigrant. The constant strugle between ones personal beliefs and those instilled by the Cuban government to it's people. It is most importantly about "familia" and the story of the Agueros (3 generations of them). I highly recommend this book (also available in English). Good use of imagery. I had forgotten I purchased it and just recently found it in my bookcase and what a surprise it turned out to be.