This is Cuba: an American journalist under Castro's shadow

Description

"To most outsiders, the fate of Cuba has never been more uncertain. Yet those who look closely enough may recognize that signs of the next revolution are etched in plain view. [This book] is a true story that begins in the summer of 2009 when a young American photojournalist is offered the chance of a lifetime--a two-year assignment in Havana. For David Ariosto, the island is an intriguing new world, unmoored from the one he left behind. From neighboring military coups, suspected honey traps, salty spooks, and desperate migrants to dissidents, doctors, and Havana's empty shelves, Ariosto uncovers the island's subtle absurdities, its Cold War mystique, and the hopes of a people in the throes of transition. Beyond the classic cars, salsa, and cigars lies a country in which black markets are ubiquitous, free speech is restricted, privacy is curtailed, sanctions wreak havoc, and an almost Kafkaesque goo of Soviet-style bureaucracy still slows the gears of an economy desperate to move forward. But life in Cuba is indeed changing, as satellite dishes and internet hotspots dot the landscape and more Americans want in. Still, it's not so simple. The old sentries on both sides of the Florida Straits remain at their posts, fists clenched and guarding against the specter of a Cold War that never quite ended, despite the death of Fidel and the handover of the presidency to a man whose last name isn't Castro. And now, a crisis is brewing. In This is Cuba, Ariosto looks at Cuba from the inside out over the course of nine years, endeavoring to expose clues for what's in store for the island as it undergoes its biggest change in more than half a century."--Dust jacket.;Last call with Castro -- The spies among us -- Men from State -- The missing sink -- Hearts, we do not know -- Por botella -- Los Yankees -- Blue shrink-wrap -- Rumble to the east -- Rising dissent -- The church broker -- "The wild colt of new technologies" -- Left behind -- A way out -- Return to Gotham -- The benefactor -- Into chaos -- Trappings of détente -- The normalization -- The old guard -- Alan Gross -- Return of the embassies -- The boom years -- Cold War games -- Baltimore back channel. Last call with Castro -- The spies among us -- Men from State -- The missing sink -- Hearts, we do not know -- Por botella -- Los Yankees -- Blue shrink-wrap -- Rumble to the east -- Rising dissent -- The church broker -- "The wild colt of new technologies" -- Left behind -- A way out -- Return to Gotham -- The benefactor -- Into chaos -- Trappings of détente -- The normalization -- The old guard -- Alan Gross -- Return of the embassies -- The boom years -- Cold War games -- Baltimore back channel.