I've started a new book this week, an autobiography by Carlos Eire entitled Waiting for Snow in Havana, which won a National Book Award in 2003, when it was first published. I haven't gotten very far yet, but the book seems to be an account of the years the writer spent in Cuba before the revolution, when he was a young boy. The book is well-written and has a beautiful cover picture of a green lizard on a green leaf, but so far seems to be mostly about what it's like to be a boy, and only partly about what it's like to be boy growing up in pre-revolutionary Cuba.
For the first few chapters, it was entertaining hearing about all the mischief he got into and what his perceptions were of his world. Those parts where the revolution intrudes on the family's otherwise tranquil, middle-class lives were particularly interesting. But now the descriptions of boyish pranks are starting to repeat, and I'm looking ahead to see if the action will ever involve something other than lizards and blowing things up. (Carlos and his friends seem to find lots of uses for firecrackers and other pyrotechnical devices.)
I'll keep you posted on how things progress.
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