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Finding Manana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus | 
 enlarge | Author: Mirta Ojito
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 357151
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 0143036602
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780143036609
ASIN: 0143036602
Publication Date: April 4, 2006
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Product Description
New York Times reporter Mirta Ojito melds the personal with the political in a moving account of her family s departure from Cuba. People
In this unforgettable memoir, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Mirta Ojito travels back twenty-five years to the event that brought her and 125,000 of her fellow Cubans to America: the 1980 mass exodus known as the Mariel boatlift. As she tracks down the long-forgotten individuals whose singular actions that year profoundly affected thousands on both sides of the Florida straits, she offers a mesmerizing glimpse behind Cuba s iron curtain and recalls the reality of being a sixteen-year-old torn between her family s thirst for freedom and a revolution that demanded absolute loyalty. Recounting an immensely important chapter in the ever-evolving relationship between America and its neighbor to the south, Finding Manana is a major triumph by one of our finest journalists.
In this wonderful memoir, Ojito ransoms herself from the seductions of nostalgia and reclaims instead the beleageured Cuba of her childhood.
The New York Times
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| Customer Reviews:
 Finding Manana: A Memoir Of A Cuban Exodus December 16, 2007
M. Cavanaugh
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In the amazing novel Finding Manana, Mirta Ojito tells the tale of a Cuban exodus. Mirta and her family face enormous amounts of ridicule and torment as their counterrevolutionary family attempts to leave Cuba for a better life in the United States. This book follows the authors' detailed account of her previous life as the Ojito's desire to leave Cuba, and may finally get their chance during the Mariel boat lift.
Born in Cuba, Mirta has always remembered a forced life. Looked badly upon for her belief in God, and her families strong distaste of the forced loyalty they must show to the government Mirta wishes for something better. Castro rules over Cuba and gives little freedom to those who inhabit the island hence the Ojito's dreams of changing the location the United States. Mirta is always fighting for freedom and always has hope throughout her early life which carries over in the pages as you read.
At sixteen Mirta's door receives a knock, when the door is opened two officers are their with instructions. Here it is, the chance the Ojito's have waited their whole life for! The neighborhood watches the Ojito family pile into the Officers car, the chance has come, but can the Ojito's make to Miami, not without some serious obstacles and complications along the way, providing you with the page turning novel everyone wants.
The Author, Ojito, takes her own story and mixes it in with others who made such a drastic difference in Cuban history. Such as the courageous story of Hector Sanyustiz and counter parts Raul and Radames smashing into Pinto's Peruvian embassy to escape Cuba. It tells of the negotiations between Castro and the heroes who wanted happiness for the Cuban people. It explains the story of an unlikely hero, Mike Howell, who captains the Manana and delivers the Cubans to Miami. Finding Manana goes back in time to talk about such famed events as the Mariel boat lift of 1980. And overall creates the intense sensation that you are their reliving these events with Mirta herself.
I liked this book because of its constant job of making me want to know more. It recalls history in personal accounts, taking interesting to a new level. You find yourself emotionally attached to all the characters and are pulling for each to succeed. The changing of one story to another provides excitement and a plethora of outcomes to enjoy and learn about. Finding Manana is a joyful book, as well as a learning experience to all who turn its pages.
I learned much from Finding Manana, it was not only a great story but also somewhat of a fun history book. It provides an almost complete summary of recent Cuban history, Filling each chapter with knowledge. You learn of the monumental struggles each character must go through and gain a new respect for the Cuban people. Learning while enjoying oneself is not always possible but Finding Manana does that, thus I would strongly recommend this book.
 I loved this book! August 29, 2006
Ben Patience (Boston, MA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
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!
Finding Manana August 25, 2006
LK
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I chose to read Finding Manana: A memoir of a Cuban Exodus. My father fled communist Cuba and its history has always fascinated me. I enjoyed every page of this book and it was hard for me to put it down because I loved the author's natural style and interesting topics. Although I have a special interest in Cuban history, I believe that anyone who enjoys reading historical non-fiction, would find this novel to be interesting. Finding Manana is a touching story about a young girl trying to find her identity where it is most difficult; in a communist country.
In this bold memoir, Mirta Ojito describes her family's life as gusanos, or worms, in Cuba. This was a term used by the Cuban government to categorize political dissenters. Ojito describes the embarrassing and harsh abuse people who did not support Castro received and illustrates why so many Cubans wanted to leave their country. In great detail, Ojito recalls the day of Castro's speech which all of Havana was expected to attend. Since her family did not believe in Castro's ways and did not support him, they skipped the rally and hid in their apartment for the night. The next morning, when they walked outside they found eggs that had been thrown at their apartment and neighbors yelling hateful words. Through Ojito's personal stories like that, it is easier to understand why so many Cubans left the country they loved so much.
Ojito not only shares her personal story of how she escaped communist Cuba, but she also tells stories of others trying to get out and those attempting to aid them. One story she writes about is that of Hector Sanyustiz, a bus driver so determined to leave Cuba he drove his bus into the gates of the Peruvian Embassy in Havana in hopes of receiving immunity. Soon after Sanyustiz's stunt, over 10,000 people sought asylum in that same Embassy. Ojito writes through many different points of view from the starving people who refuse to move, scared that the Cuban police will trick them out of the Embassy and place them in jail, to the Cuban political figures that work with Castro and try to figure out what to do with all those desperate to leave the country. Another person Ojito discusses is Captain Mike Howell, one of the generous Americans helping to bring back Cuban refugees on his ship. Through this character, Ojito shows how those who have never had to live without freedom often take it for granted. This novel is very humbling for those who believe life in America is difficult or unfair.
Ojito's style is very natural and although she is a reporter, she has the talent of being able to get facts across without being tedious. In Ojito's stories, she educates the reader as well as keeps him entertained and interested. She is able to blend her reporter style with her emotional style in this story making a perfect balance between knowledge and experience. This novel explains many things about communist Cuba and its society many would not know unless they lived through it.
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