Dying To Get Here: A Story of Coming to America

By Matt Lawrence

Paco Robaina sits on the crumbling steps to his four-room hovel in a small Havana barrio, smoking a cigar and watching his two young sons play. He scans the street full of other scruffy neighborhood... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 059532410X
• ISBN13: 9780595324101
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.5" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

LIFE IN CASTRO'S CUBA BECOMES A NIGHTMARE

A POWERFUL STORY TOLD AS ONLY A PARTICIPANT COULD RELATE. A MOST HEART WRENCHING TALE OF WHAT LIFE IN CASTRO"S CUBA IS AND HOW IT LED TO A FAMILY LEAVING TO SEEK A BETTER LIFE IN THE UNITED STATE. MATT LAWRENCE HAS A NATURAL FLARE TO TELL THIS STORY BECAUSE OF HIS FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE OF FLYING WITH "BROTHERS TO THE RESCUE". HE INTIMATELY WEAVES THE THREADS OF THIS POWERFUL STORY WITH THE INTRIGUE AND HARD FACTS OF THIS FAMILIES FLIGHT FROM A DICTATORSHIP AND THE PERILS AND PERSONAL TRAGEDY THEY FACED WITH THE ULTIMATE PURSUIT OF FREEDOM. THIS IS A MUST FOR EVERYONE TO READ AS THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE LIVING UNDER OPPRESSION ALL OVER THE WORLD.

Its for real !

I found "Dying To Get Here" by Matt Lawrence an exciting book... It makes me think of how I might feel if this was my family trying to get here.. How important freedom truly is.. and what I myself might be willing to risk to have it. To escape from povery, repression, hunger and to know that death may be the final outcome instead of the hopes of a new life.

Matt Laurence has managed to distill the exile experience in

Matt Laurence has managed to distill the exile experience into a few fast paced pages. Only some one whose heart has been touched and broken by personal experience of the Cuban Diaspora could have written this book. The story of the Robaina's could be the story of many Cuban families. Those who left first those who lest last and those leaving today all flee the same hopelessness and stifling lack of freedom that is chronicled so clearly in this novel. I found this story as real as the one my family recounts at our reunion every October when we celebrate our arrival in the Camarioca boatlift of 1965. I even relived the taste of my own first meal in Key West. Like the family in the book I too own my life and the life of 40 people I hold dear to the United States Coast Guard. I would recommend this book to anyone. No matter what your opinion of the Cuban Revolution this book will grab you.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reading this book I felt like I was there...In the middle of the struggle for freedom. Matt Lawrence's description of the events were riveting causing a stream a tears. Everyone needs to read this book

A magnificent depiction of courage

The fictional depiction of the Robaina family is a heart wrenching tale of courage and determination. This story seems to capture the true experiences of many brave people who risked their lives to escape the tyranny which is modern day Cuba. Matt Lawrence has told a story that has needed to be told for almost a decade. It seems well timed as the Cuban citizens continue to risk everything to achieve freedom. This story will open the eyes of many Americans that may have never heard of the brave pilots that took to the air to save refugees in the Florida straits a decade ago. Kudos to Mr Lawrence and LIBERTAD! to the Cuban people that have been lucky enough to survive the trip.