Tropicana Nights

Join us for a reading by the author – Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox.
Monday October 17, 2005 @ 7:00 PM at
The Half King= 505 W 23RD ST
NEW YORK, NY 10011
TEL: 212.462.4300

From Publishers Weekly
Tropicana opened in 1939 at Villa Mina, a six-acre suburban Havana estate with lush tropical gardens. It's still going strong, after a number of setbacks, not the least of which was Fidel Castro's squelching of nightlife and other social outlets. After Martin Fox took over in 1950, choreographer Roderico "Rodney" Neyra staged spectacular shows in the club's newly constructed Arcos de Cristal, parabolic concrete arches and glass walls soaring over an indoor stage. Headliners included Josephine Baker, Nat King Cole, Celia Cruz, Xavier Cugat and Carmen Miranda; and celebrity visitors ranged from Brando and Durante to Hemingway and Piaf. Tracing the evolution of this "paradise under the stars" against the backdrop of Cuban culture, politics in pre-Castro Cuba and mob connections, journalist Lowinger (Latina) interweaves the personal stories of Fox and his widow, playwright-teacher Ofelia Fox, who recalls, "It was a life set to music. What could be better?" The superb talents of Cuban music's Golden Age were resurrected in the Oscar-nominated film Buena Vista Social Club (1998), but Lowinger's scintillating chronicle offers an overview—not found in that film—of the florid, splashy era when "Cuba was an endless party, and Tropicana was its epicenter." Photos. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

From Booklist
Lowinger and Fox tell the story of Havana's notorious Tropicana nightclub, the template from which Las Vegas was made after the corrupt Batista regime collapsed, and the Tropicana was closed. In its day the Tropicana was a prime site for gambling, elegance, seeing and being seen--a resort of choice for international gangsters and jet-setters. Readers who enjoyed Anthony Haden-Guest's "biography" of Studio 54, The Last Party (1997), will enjoy comparing the differing modes of showmanship, decadence, and ostentation current in the Tropicana's 1950s heyday to those of 1970s New York's debauched disco scene. Fox married Tropicana owner Martin Fox in 1952 and helped him run it until 1962, when they decamped to Miami. She and Lowinger take pains to establish that the Tropicana was hardly a sleazy Mob hangout but rather a world-class entertainment venue that discriminating gangsters happened to enjoy frequenting. An excellent resource on Cuban popular culture, lavish entertainment, and everyday life just before and just after Castro, this is also an exciting and rewarding read. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Comments

[Felix Perry]

What a great book. It transports you to the night club as well as to Cuba Probably the next best thing to having been there.

[Oscar Ramirez]

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By OSCAR M. RAMÍREZ-ORBEA, PH.D.

**Cuba, I Remember You is a book about family, love, relationships, and survival in difficult circumstances that all readers will find to be a wonderful reading experience.
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CUBA, I REMEMBER YOU/CUBA, TE RECUERDO
By OSCAR M. RAMÍREZ-ORBEA, PH.D.

A collection of 14 short stories, all in Spanish and English, based on the author’s experiences of childhood before and after the Communist revolution. Includes Appendix for educators wishing to use the book in Spanish or English foreign language classes. Lots of nostalgia for those who knew Cuba in the 50’s and 60’s and plenty of humor for readers in general. Includes also many period family photographs that illustrate the stories and bring them vividly to life!

About the Author

Dr. Oscar M. Ramírez-Orbea, was born in Camagüey, Cuba, in 1955. He emigrated with his family to the US in 1966, after completing elementary school in his home country. He longs one day to return to his native city of Camagüey and to all the fond memories it holds for him. CUBA, I REMEMBER YOU/CUBA, TE RECUERDO is Dr. Ramírez’s first narrative work. More

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[Rosa Sanchez]

Ofelia Fox, wife of the owner of the cabaret Tropicana of Havana was the first female personality of Spanish radio in South Florida. Without pay and using the pseudonym Liansu she bradcast a daily message: "El Mensaje de Liansu" thru WMIE, now "La Cubanisima." The collection of her manuscripts from 1961 to 1964 constitutes a diary of the first wave of political refugees from Cuba and it has been published under the title: CUBA PATRIA EN LAGRIMAS Y EL MENSAJE DE LIANSU. The emotionally charged 391-page book has 16 pages of photos and was presented at the Miami Book Fair International on November of this year. Close to 200 copies of the book have been donated to public libraries all over the nation and it is now available at most bookstores in Miami and thru the internet.
Rosa Sanchez who undertook the task of publishing this historical diary declined comments about the book other than the following messages she has received from readers, not from literary critics: "I thank you personally and I'm sure that one day colleges will use this book to study Cuban immigration to America." Signed Linda K.
"Thank you, Rosa. I just finished reading the book. I devoured it. It is the best thing I've read describing our pain." Signed R.M.
"Rosa, I've been reading the book. I congratulate you for two reasons: first, for the time you've taken to introduce us to those that, at the beginning of the Cuban exile, set light to the faith in the future and started the fight for Cuba's freedom and second, for making this book so attractive and easy to read and understand." Signed J.S.

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