• About this Book

Written by Yoani Sanchez
Translated by M. J. Porter

• Format: Trade Paperback, 256 pages
 
• Publisher: Melville House
• On Sale: April 26, 2011
• Price: $16.95
• ISBN: 978-1-935554-25-7 (1-935554-25-5)

about this book

She’s been kidnapped and beaten, lives under surveillance, and can only get online–in disguise–at tourist hotspots. She’s a blogger, she’s a Cuban, and she’s a worldwide sensation.

Yoani Sánchez is an unusual dissident: no street protests, no attacks on big politicos, no calls for revolution. Rather, she produces a simple diary about what it means to live under the Castro regime: the chronic hunger and the difficulty of shopping; the art of repairing ancient appliances; and the struggles of living under a propaganda machine that pushes deep into public and private life.

For these simple acts of truth-telling her life is one of constant threat. But she continues on, refusing to be silenced–a living response to all who have ceased to believe in a future for Cuba.

“Other books offer a glance at Cuba still under a Castro, but none can compare with this remarkable diary of a life most can only imagine. Although her blog has been available online translated into several languages, including English, for some years, this cumulative collection is unequivocally highly recommended not just for all who are interested in Cuba today, but for fans of memoir, non-U.S. women’s perspectives, and all who are concerned with human rights.” — Library Journal

Praise for Yoani Sánchez

“Under the nose of a regime that has never tolerated dissent, Sánchez has practiced what paper-bound journalists in her country cannot: freedom of speech. . .” –Time

“Ms. Sánchez paints an unflinching, and deeply personal, portrait of the Cuban experience.” –The Wall Street Journal

“Filled with personal observations and sardonic social commentary . . . [Sánchez’s] bleak poetry does not focus overtly on politics, but instead conveys the texture of daily life in a crumbling totalitarian system.” –The New York Times

“[Sánchez] provides the world a unique window into the realities of daily life in Cuba . . . empower[ing] fellow Cubans to express themselves through the use of technology.” –Barack Obama

“What has probably unnerved the regime is not so much her attacks on the Castro brothers as her vivid description of daily life. . . . Where does this woman get her courage?” –The Washington Post