Subtitle:
Returning to
Jewish Cuba Author: Ruth Behar Photographs
by: Humberto Mayol Cloth ISBN 978-0-8135-4189-1 Pages: 288 pages, 145 b&w
photographs, 1 map Publication Date: November 2007
LISTEN TO AN
INTERVIEW with Ruth Behar
Reviews for An Island
Called Home
"This may be Behar's
most personal work...she lovingly intertwines her
own thoughts and feelings
with the more analytical observations of her profession. The result: a
narrative that tugs at the heart."
—Miami
Herald
"Traversing the
island, Behar becomes a confidante to a myriad of Jewish strangers.
Through one-on-one interviews and black-and-white images taken by her
photographer, Humberto Mayol, she uncovers the diasporic thread that
connects Cuban Jews....This diligent recounting and pictorial collage
of interviews with adolescents, the aging, the impoverished and the
political by Behar preserves in memory the people and places that make
up Cuba's Jewish story."
—Publisher's Weekly Praise for An
Island Called Home
“Ruth Behar’s An Island Called Home
is a kaddish, an offering, dedicated to the exiles and to the children
of the exiles and for those wandering still, searching for their homes.
May they ‘not be given up for lost.’”
—Sandra Cisneros, author of Caramelo
“A fascinating and vital memoir about a rarely glimpsed cultural force
in Cuba; both personal and far-reaching. An Island Called Home digs deep to
reveal new things about the collective soul of the Cubans.”
—Oscar Hijuelos, author of The Mambo
Kings Play Songs of Love
Description:
As a child of five, Ruth Behar left Cuba with her Jewish
family. Growing up in the United States, she wondered about the Jews
who stayed behind. Who were they and why had they stayed? What traces
were left of the Jewish presence, of the cemeteries, synagogues, and
Torahs? Who was taking care of this legacy? What Jewish memories had
managed to survive the years of revolutionary atheism?
A stunning memoir, An Island Called
Home is the story of Behar’s journey back to find answers to
these questions. Behar uncovers a side of Cuban Jews that is poignant
and personal. Her moving vignettes of the individuals she meets are
coupled with the sensitive photographs of Havana-based photographer
Humberto Mayol, who traveled with her.
Featured
Events:
Thurs.,
Oct. 18 – The Jewish Museum, “Books in Focus,” series, New York
City, 6:30pm
Fri., Nov. 2 – 92nd
Street Y, “A Cuban Shabbat with Ruth Behar,” New
York City, 8pm
Sun., Nov. 4 – Center
for Jewish History/Yeshiva University Museum, New
York City, 7pm
Sat. Nov. 10 –
Miami International Book Fair, Miami . . . with Alex Harris and Andrea
O'Reilly, 12 pm
Ruth Behar is a professor of anthropology at the
University of Michigan. The recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellows
award, she is the author of The
Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology
That Breaks Your Heart and director of the documentary, Adio
Kerida (Goodbye Dear Love).Ruth's website is www.ruthbehar.com
Humberto Mayol is an award-winning photographer
living in Havana,
Cuba. His work has been widely exhibited in Cuba, the United States,
Europe, and Latin America.
