The Caribbean: Survival, Struggle and Sovereignty by Catherine A. Sunshine. EPICA, 1988 (revised ed), 255 pp., $10.00 (paper). This updated edition, illustrated with over 100 photos and drawings, is one of the best primers on the Caribbean. Sun- shine has written a popular in the best sense study of a region beset by the demands of the world market, U.S. geopolitical interests, outmoded social structures and an increasingly restive population. Green Gold: Bananas and Depend- ency in the Eastern Caribbean by Robert Thomson. Latin America Bu- reau, 1987, 90 pp., $7.50 (paper). A concise examination of the chat- lenges the people of the Windward Is- lands have faced since the turn of the century, when bananas superceded sugar as the plantocracy 'S main export. The banana growers, who are primarily small tenant farmers, remain impover- ished today. Includes a close look at the British firm Geest Industries, which monopolizes the banana trade in a way the old colonial masters would envy. The Growth and Development of Po- litical Ideas in the Caribbean 1774- 1983 by Denis Benn. Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1987, $17.00 (paper). This scholarly intellectual history traces West Indian political ideologies from those of the eighteenth century planter oligarchy to current nationalists and neo-marxists. Chapters on Marcus Garvey, C.L.R. James and Eric Wil- liams make up the bulk, but equally interesting are sections on the lesser known intellectuals Walter Rodney, Lloyd Best and Clive Thomas. This good synthesis of political ideas in the English-speaking Caribbean comes with an impressive bibliography and is maned only by the lack of an index. Grass Roots Commitment: Basket- ball and Society in Trinidad & To- bago by Jay R. and Joan D. Mandle. Caribbean Books, 1988, $7.00 (paper). Examining basketball in the Carib- bean's most industrialized country, the Mandles write a short study of race, class, gender and political power. Is- sues such as cultural imperialism, women's participation and independ- ent political action get played out by lower class athletes on and off the court. Storm Over Chile: The Junta Under Siege by Samuel Chavkin. Lawrence Hill Books, (reviseded.) 1989, 3l6pp., $12.95 (paper). This compelling reportage of the 16 years of the Pinochet dictatorship, with extended interviews and contextual analysis, provides a useful antidote to the blathering about economic "mir- acles" and the "triumph of modera- tion" that characterizes current report- ing. A new chapter examines opposi- tion unity and government repression in the context of the watershed 1988 plebiscite. The Church and Socialism in Cuba by Radi Gómez Treto. Orbis Books, 1988, 151 pp., $9.95 (paper). For years, both before and after the Revolution, the Catholic Church was notoriously absent from rural Cuba, and even the urban middle class at- tended non-parochial private schools. It was in essence the "Church in Cuba," rather than the "Cuban Church." Gómez Treto, a Cuban lay Catholic, examines the gradual transformation of the Church-as-hierarchy to the Church- as-community in the post-revolution- ary years, particularly after the 1968 Bishops Conference in MedellIn. Marketing Disease to Hispanics by Bruce Maxwell and Michael Jacobson. Center for Science in the Public Inter- est, 1989, 100 pp.' $6.95 (paper). The outcry over disparities in edu- cation, employment and political em. powerment, has shrouded an area where Hispanics have indeed been closing the gap: cancer rates. This report examines the pervasive influence of the alcohol, tobacco, fast food and soft drink indus- tries on the Hispanic community and its devastating impact on health. Certificate of Absence by Sylvia Molloy. U. of Texas Press, 1989, 125 pp., $18.95 (cloth), $7.95 (paper). Longing, betrayal and remembrance are the subjects more accurately, obsessions of this lesbian love tri- angle set in northern Argentina. Mol- Joy's eloquent rendering of a single woman's isolation and loneliness is ac- complished in the absence of dialogue, humor, self-detachment or a sense of connection to society-at-large. Woman Between Mirrors by Helena Parente Cunha. U. of Texas Press, 1989, 132 pp., $18.95 (cloth), $8.95 (paper). Two voices dispute a shared history in compellingly descriptive prose. They are the two sides of one woman: a traditionalist defined by father, hus- band and three sons, who extols the virtues of feminine passivity; and a cynical free spirit whose apt criticisms nonetheless resound with clichés and wasted options. When liberation ar- rives by default, the two unite tempo- rarily for an exotic, erotic journey through the Afro-Brazilian demi-monde of Salvador, Bahia. Cunha explores the solemn inner monologues of privileged women who break through the conven- tional Latina existence into truer but no less lonely worlds. Promissory Notes: Women in the Transition to Socialism ed. by Sonia Kruks, Rayna Rapp and Marilyn B. Young. Monthly Review Press, 1989, 395 pp., $18.00 (paper). A collection of essays which chal- lenges the premise that socialist revo- lution fosters gender equality. Muriel Nazzari argues that, "Cuba's adoption in the early l970s of a system of distri- bution based on material incentives and the requirement that enterprises show a profit perpetuates women's inequality in the home and in the workforce." And Maxine D. Molyneux notes that, while women have achieved greater participation and eminence in Nicara- gua's public life, most are still stuck in low-paid occupations or in the home. Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution ed. by David Deutschmann. Pathfinder, 1987, 413 pp., $11.95 (paper). A selection of articles, speeches, and letters several long out-of-print and a number re-translated into read- able and accurate prose. From his first contact with Fidel, through to his writ- ing on Vietnam, Che's extraordinary seriousness and devotion to liberation struggles are evident on every page. His conviction that human will can overcome the many obstacles on the road to socialism remains an inspira- tion. 12 REPORT ON THE AMERICAS 4~s (44ew The Caribbean: Survival, Struggle and Sovereignty by Catherine A. Sunshine. EPICA, 1988 (revised ed.), 255 pp., $10.00 (paper). This updated edition, illustrated with over 100 photos and drawings, is one of the best primers on the Caribbean. Sun- shine has written a popular-in the best sense-study of a region beset by the demands of the world market, U.S. geopolitical interests, outmoded social structures and an increasingly restive population. Green Gold: Bananas and Depend- ency in the Eastern Caribbean by Robert Thomson. Latin America Bu- reau, 1987, 90 pp., $7.50 (paper). A concise examination of the chal- lenges the people of the Windward Is- lands have faced since the turn of the century, when bananas superceded sugar as the plantocracy's main export. The banana growers, who are primarily small tenant farmers, remain impover- ished today. Includes a close look at the British firm Geest Industries, which monopolizes the banana trade in a way the old colonial masters would envy. The Growth and Development of Po- litical Ideas in the Caribbean 1774- 1983 by Denis Benn. Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1987, $17.00 (paper). This scholarly intellectual history traces West Indian political ideologies from those of the eighteenth century planter oligarchy to current nationalists and neo-marxists. Chapters on Marcus Garvey, C.L.R. James and Eric Wil- liams make up the bulk, but equally interesting are sections on the lesser known intellectuals Walter Rodney, Lloyd Best and Clive Thomas. This good synthesis of political ideas in the English-speaking Caribbean comes with an impressive bibliography and is marred only by the lack of an index. Grass Roots Commitment: Basket- ball and Society in Trinidad & To- bago by Jay R. and Joan D. Mandle. Caribbean Books, 1988, $7.00 (paper). Examining basketball in the Carib- bean's most industrialized country, the Mandles write a short study of race, class, gender and political power. Is- sues such as cultural imperialism, women's participation and independ- ent political action get played out by lower class athletes on and off the court. Storm Over Chile: The Junta Under Siege by Samuel Chavkin. Lawrence Hill Books, (revised ed.) 1989, 3 16 pp., $12.95 (paper). This compelling reportage of the 16 years of the Pinochet dictatorship, with extended interviews and contextual analysis, provides a useful antidote to the blathering about economic "mir- acles" and the "triumph of modera- tion'" that characterizes current report- ing. A new chapter examines opposi- tion unity and government repression in the context of the watershed 1988 plebiscite. The Church and Socialism in Cuba by Radl G6mez Treto. Orbis Books, 1988, 151 pp., $9.95 (paper). For years, both before and after the Revolution, the Catholic Church was notoriously absent from rural Cuba, and even the urban middle class at- tended non-parochial private schools. It was in essence the "Church in Cuba," rather than the "Cuban Church." G6mez Treto, a Cuban lay Catholic, examines the gradual transformation of the Church-as-hierarchy to the Church- as-community in the post-revolution- ary years, particularly after the 1968 Bishops Conference in Medellin. Marketing Disease to Hispanics by Bruce Maxwell and Michael Jacobson. Center for Science in the Public Inter- est, 1989, 100 pp., $6.95 (paper). The outcry over disparities in edu- cation, employment and political em- powerment, has shrouded an area where Hispanics have indeed been closing the gap: cancer rates. This report examines the pervasive influence of the alcohol, tobacco, fast food and soft drink indus- tries on the Hispanic community and its devastating impact on health. Certificate of Absence by Sylvia Molloy. U. of Texas Press, 1989, 125 pp., $18.95 (cloth), $7.95 (paper). Longing, betrayal and remembrance are the subjects-more accurately, obsessions--of this lesbian love tri- angle set in northern Argentina. Mol- loy's eloquent rendering of a single woman's isolation and loneliness is ac- complished in the absence of dialogue, humor, self-detachment or a sense of connection to society-at-large. Woman Between Mirrors by Helena Parente Cunha. U. of Texas Press, 1989, 132 pp., $18.95 (cloth), $8.95 (paper). Two voices dispute a shared history in compellingly descriptive prose. They are the two sides of one woman: a traditionalist defined by father, hus- band and three sons, who extols the virtues of feminine passivity; and a cynical free spirit whose apt criticisms nonetheless resound with cliches and wasted options. When liberation ar- rives by default, the two unite tempo- rarily for an exotic, erotic journey through the Afro-Brazilian demi-monde of Salvador, Bahia. Cunha explores the solemn inner monologues of privileged women who break through the conven- tional Latina existence into truer but no less lonely worlds. Promissory Notes: Women in the Transition to Socialism ed. by Sonia Kruks, Rayna Rapp and Marilyn B. Young. Monthly Review Press, 1989, 395 pp., $18.00 (paper). A collection of essays which chal- lenges the premise that socialist revo- lution fosters gender equality. Muriel Nazzari argues that, "Cuba's adoption in the early 1970s of a system of distri- bution based on material incentives and the requirement that enterprises show a profit perpetuates women's inequality in the home and in the workforce." And Maxine D. Molyneux notes that, while women have achieved greater participation and eminence in Nicara- gua's public life, most are still stuck in low-paid occupations or in the home. Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution ed. by David Deutschmann. Pathfinder, 1987, 413 pp., $11.95 (paper). A selection of articles, speeches, and letters-several long out-of-print and a number re-translated into read- able and accurate prose. From his first contact with Fidel, through to his writ- ing on Vietnam, Che's extraordinary seriousness and devotion to liberation struggles are evident on every page. His conviction that human will can overcome the many obstacles on the road to socialism remains an inspira- tion.
