The Handsomest Man in Cuba: An Escapade

by Lynette Chiang

Book Overview

An engaging, witty account of the people, customs, food, and culture of Cuba framed by a fascinating approach to travel. With only a folding bicycle and a towable suitcase, Australian Lynette Chiang... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0762743905
• ISBN13: 9780762743902
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Globe Pequot Press
• Length: 257 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Bittersweet memories

This book brought a torrent of bittersweet memories. Like Lynette I'm of Chinese descent, but born in Cuba. It's very rarely that one bumps into a very original travel account like hers. Least of all, not that many have had the opportunity to see the side of Cuba never shown to ordinary tourists. What I really appreciate is her non-biased approach as she shows the daily hardships ordinary people encounter to survive, without rambling on what's already known about living conditions there under Castro. She brings to life the resilience of the people there rather candidly. This is important - the character of the people, not the ugly politics. Lynette, when is your next bike trip back to Cuba? Please let me know I have several suggestions.

Don't Miss This Insightful Down-To-Earth Look At the Real Cuba!

The Handsomest Man In Cuba by Linette Chiang is a wonderful book not to be missed, whether you are a hard core bicyclist, casual traveler, or just interested in the world around you. Lynette provides an intimate and insightful look into the lives of ordinary Cubans as she chronicles her adventures bicycling across the country, making new friends as she goes. Preferring to live simply among the people and avoid the typical insulated "tourist" experience, she manages to show all sides of Cuba. She misses nothing, describing the tiniest details of the people and places she encounters, and her own adventures along the way. Her perceptive outlook, frank honesty, humor and compassion gives a provocative perspective of this remarkable country, it's people and their culture, and in the process provides some profound reflections on the comparison to our own "Western culture". She reminds us how easy it is for us to forget (or never realize) to appreciate what we have in our lives...that perhaps the cost of what we've gained may not always be worth what we've lost. After reading her book I experienced a tremendous restless urge to just take off on a bike somewhere across the world for a year or so. That may have to wait a bit (being a parent of young children). But it's certainly the next best thing to be able to experience vicariously Lynette's courageous and free adventure by reading this book. It's a remarkable tale written by a remarkable woman, and I have a new appreciation and understanding of Cuba and its people as a result. Highly recommended! --Ray Arkin Eugene, Oregon

Finally someone without an agenda..

I really enjoyed The Handsomest Man In Cuba because it is something that seems like a rarity these days -- a book about a politicized subject that is not a one-sided rant. Lynette portrays Cuba as complex, often perplexing, sometimes disturbing -- the way the world really is. Travelling by bicycle, and being an outgoing Aussie, she was able to get close to the people of Cuba and get at least a glimpse of their everyday life and daily struggles and joys. Her description of life at this level - at street level - gives a valuable insight into the successes and failings of the Castro regime, one that US politicians might do well to consider.

Mister Bicycle loves this book!

First let me start out by saying I am NOT a literary critic. I love Lance Armstrong's book even though some of my "Smart" friends said it was not written very well. I don't care because I thought it was a great story and it entertained me. Lynette Chiang's book "The Handsomest Man in Cuba" is a great story as well. It entertained me and some of the lines in her book are magical. Little gems of a sentance that I had to read two or three times. I found the book to very inspirational. If this small Chinese / Australian woman with a self admitted bad sense of direction could ride her bike all over Cuba on the cheap, so could I and so could you. If you are like me and try to avoid the tourist spots and instead see what the locals see, you will definitely like her approach to this book.