An audacious “biography” of the ex-president of Cuba told in Castro’s own outrageous, bombastic voice. Prize-winning author and journalist Norberto Fuentes was once a revolutionary: a writer with privileged access to Fidel Castro’s inner circle during some the most challenging years of the revolution. But in the late 1990s, as the regime began sending its oldest comrades to the firing squad, he became A Man Who Knew Too Much. Escaping a death sentence and now living in exile, Fuentes has written a brilliant, satirical, and utterly captivating “autobiography” of the Cuban leader―in Fidel’s own arrogant and seductive language―discussing everything from Castro’s early sexual experiences in Birán to his true feelings about Che Guevara and his philosophy on murder, legacy, and state secrets. Critics have long admired Fuentes’s writing; one U.S. article called him “Norman Mailer’s Cuban pen pal.” Akin to Gertrude Stein’s The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, or Edmund Morris’s Dutch, this wickedly entertaining, true-to-life masterpiece is as imaginative and outsized as Castro himself.

The Autobiography of Fidel Castro

Literature & Fiction

Fuentes, Norberto

United States

W.W.Norton&Company

"A compelling fictional personage-by turns arrogant, funny, pompous, lewd, self-absorbed and self-deluding."―Michiko Kakutani, New York Times An audacious “biography” of the ex-president of Cuba told in Castro’s own outrageous, bombastic voice. Prize-winning author and journalist Norberto Fuentes was once a revolutionary: a writer with privileged access to Fidel Castro’s inner circle during some the most challenging years of the revolution. But in the late 1990s, as the regime began sending its oldest comrades to the firing squad, he became A Man Who Knew Too Much. Escaping a death sentence and now living in exile, Fuentes has written a brilliant, satirical, and utterly captivating “autobiography” of the Cuban leader―in Fidel’s own arrogant and seductive language―discussing everything from Castro’s early sexual experiences in Birán to his true feelings about Che Guevara and his philosophy on murder, legacy, and state secrets. Critics have long admired Fuentes’s writing; one U.S. article called him “Norman Mailer’s Cuban pen pal.” Akin to Gertrude Stein’s The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, or Edmund Morris’s Dutch, this wickedly entertaining, true-to-life masterpiece is as imaginative and outsized as Castro himself.

A photographic record of the writer's period in Cuba between 1939 and 1960 by his personal secretary

Ernest Hemngway Rediscovered

Random House Value Publishing

Ernest Hemingway's life was as romantic and exciting as anything in his novels and stories, and this magnificently illustrated large-format volume captures many of his best years. The text, recounting Hemingway's life and times between 1939 and 1960, is a remembrance by Norberto Fuentes, who was Hemingway's good friend during that period. In the book's vivid photographs, we see Hemingway on African safaris, in Venice with his wife Mary Welsh, fishing for marlin in the Gulf Stream, socializing at his favorite cafes, and relaxing at his homes in Cuba, Key West, and Idaho. Still other dramatic candid shots show Hemingway on movie sets with Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper, and Ingrid Bergman. The more than 150 candid black-and-white photos of Hemingway and friends at work and at play, were taken by his friend and associate, Roberto Herrera Sotolongo, and had never appeared anywhere until the publication of this book. Another 50 full-color photos taken more recently capture the different atmospheres of the writer's several homes.

Ernest Hemingway: Rediscovered

Biographies & Memoirs

Herrera Sotolongo, Roberto

Professionals & Academics

Barrons Educational Series. Inc.

By what marvelous alchemy did Ernest Hemingway come to spend 22 of his 61 years living in Cuba? It began with a fishing expedition. It continued with his meeting Martha Gellhorn, an attractive blonde journalist, in Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida, in December of 1936. By 1939, Hemingway was dissolving his marriage to second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, with the aid of Gellhorn. He was just starting to write "For Whom the Bell Tolls", his novel about the Spanish Civil War. He arrived in Key West to work on the novel in the room above the pool house. Work became impossible; Pauline's guests were too noisy and intrusive. In desperation, Hemingway fled to Havana, where he isolated himself in a room in the Ambos Mundos Hotel. He appeared from time to time to descend to the Floridita to quench his thirst with his patented Papa Doble Daiquiri. Martha Gellhorn, visiting Papa in his desolate hotel room, decided that she wanted something of a different order. She located a rental house in the hills of San Francisco de Paula. At first, Hemingway resisted. He said it was too run down. Martha hastened to fix it and staff it. Thus began the saga of 'Hemingway in Cuba'. In these pages you will understand the Cuban magic that shaped the destiny of one of America's most important writers. Norberto Fuentes (b. 1943 in Havana) is a writer and journalist. Fuentes was a close friend of Fidel Castro and thus had privileged knowledge of the Cuban secret service during some of the most difficult years of the Cuban Revolution. After spending many years alongside Castro, Fuentes tried to escape the island, was detained, and eventually released with the assistance of Gabriel García Márquez and William Kennedy. He currently lives in the United States. Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014), who wrote the introduction, was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century.

Hemingway in Cuba (English and Spanish Edition)

LYLE STUART +

Este testimonio del escritor cubano Norberto Fuentes, arrestado y milagrosamente salvado de la muerte, es la historia de los hechos que en 1989 conmovieron a Cuba y el relato de la agonía que finalmente liquidó la ilusión revolucionaria de los admirados héroes barbudos de la Sierra Maestra. Mientras los vientos de la Perestroika amenazan a las viejas castas soviéticas que gobiernan en los países del Este de Europa, Fidel Castro refuerza el blindaje de su régimen personal y desencadena la detención de los carismáticos líderes revolucionarios y militares que, según sus letales sospechas, podrían sustituirle al frente del país. La espectacular arbitrariedad del juicio estalinista que tiene lugar en La Habana evoca los peores episodios de las terribles represiones políticas que Occidente creía haber superado y acaba en los fusilamientos que impedirán la esperada evolución democrática del régimen.

Dulces Guerreros Cubanos (Spanish Edition)

Reference

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Planeta Pub Corp

Más allá de las conspiraciones, de los secretos de Estado, del celo de los custodios del hardcore y de lo que se fraguó en los compartimentos estancos del último búnker, Norberto Fuentes se las ingenió —mientras escribía los textos que ahora integran El último disidente— para develarnos e informarnos acuciosamente del día a día en la lenta marcha de Fidel Castro hacia su muerte. Llegó a revelarnos el secreto de sus padecimientos y de paso poner en ridículo hasta al mismo jefe de los servicios secretos americanos, John Negroponte, cuando este aseguró en diciembre de 2006 que Fidel era víctima de un cáncer y que sus días estaban contados; y más lejos aún, muy temprano en ese proceso del retiro del poder, estas crónicas nos advirtieron de los primeros amagos de guerras intestinas por acaparar el poder de Cuba y nombró claramente a su hermano Raúl Castro como su principal enemigo. No es difícil vislumbrar que las consecuencias inevitables de todo lo que aquí se expone aún es una historia en desarrollo y que su desenlace definitivo aún está por producirse en el corto plazo del acontecer cubano.

El último disidente (Spanish Edition)

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

Independently published

Este testimonio del escritor cubano Norberto Fuentes, arrestado y milagrosamente salvado de la muerte, es la historia de los hechos que en 1989 conmovieron a Cuba y el relato de la agonía que finalmente liquidó la ilusión revolucionaria de los admirados héroes barbudos de la Sierra Maestra. Mientras los vientos de la Perestroika amenazan a las viejas castas soviéticas que gobiernan en los países del Este de Europa, Fidel Castro refuerza el blindaje de su régimen personal y desencadena la detención de los carismáticos líderes revolucionarios y militares que, según sus letales sospechas, podrían sustituirle al frente del país. La espectacular arbitrariedad del juicio estalinista que tiene lugar en La Habana evoca los peores episodios de las terribles represiones políticas que Occidente creía haber superado y acaba en los fusilamientos que impedirán la esperada evolución democrática del régimen.

Dulces guerreros cubanos (Spanish Edition)

History

Americas

El proceso se conoce como caso Padilla. Tuvo lugar en La Habana. En este libro, el narrador cubano Norberto Fuentes nos entrega su testimonio de aquellos días —en 1971— del arresto y posterior “autocrítica” del poeta Heberto Padilla, un episodio que todos los autores coinciden en señalar como el fin de la luna de miel de la intelectualidad occidental con la Revolución Cubana y, especialmente con su líder, Fidel Castro. Un punto de giro tan dramático como insoslayable en la historia del comunismo cubano y del que Norberto Fuentes, precisamente, fue uno de los principales involucrados, pero sobre lo cual decidió guardar un inquebrantable silencio hasta el presente, cuando cree llegado el momento de “poner las cosas en su lugar”. Algo más que el testimonio de aquel episodio: este libro es también el retrato de un joven artista y su aprendizaje como escritor en una revolución.

Plaza sitiada (Spanish Edition)

Arts & Literature

Este libro es fruto de la experiencia de Norberto Fuentes como reportero de los combates entre las fuerzas castristas y los grupos contrarrevolucionarios, eso que se llamó la lucha contra bandidos, en el Escambray. Fue publicado por primera vez hace cinco décadas, el primer libro de la producción de Norberto y que fue ganador del premio Cuento 1968 de la Casa de las Américas. Por la forma como fueron presentados tanto milicianos como alzados, algunos consideran a Condenados de Condado como el primer libro disidente de la Revolución Cubana.

Condenados de Condado (Spanish Edition)

Genre Fiction

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Fuentes, Norberto. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Fuentes, Norberto

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Fuentes, Norberto. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Autobiography of Fidel Castro

The Autobiography of Fidel Castro

Ernest Hemngway Rediscovered

Ernest Hemingway: Rediscovered

Hemingway in Cuba (English and Spanish Edition)

Dulces Guerreros Cubanos (Spanish Edition)

El último disidente (Spanish Edition)

Dulces guerreros cubanos (Spanish Edition)

Plaza sitiada (Spanish Edition)

Condenados de Condado (Spanish Edition)