$26.00
ISBN: 9781250043702
Availability: Hard to Find
Published: Picador USA - June 9th, 2015
Brin-Jonathan Butler is a man of obsessions. As a child, to avoid horrendous bullying and his family’s legacy of alcoholism and suicide, he escaped into his love of literature and boxing—passions that would last a lifetime. Books showed him a world of possibilities beyond the narrow prospects of his troubled upbringing. Boxing let him imagine a sense of pride and discipline he’d never known in his own life.
As you’d expect, this dual love of books and boxing quickly led young Butler to Hemingway. From there, it was a natural progression for him to become enamored with Cuba. Like most kids of my generation, raised during the Cold War’s protracted denouement, the small Communist country less than 100 miles from American shores captured his imagination completely. Why did Hemingway—the lion of modern American fiction—spend the waning years of his life there, writing his final masterpiece and even helping aid the revolution that would ultimately send him packing? Why did so many Cubans choose to leave their beloved home with no chance of ever returning? Why did so many choose to stay? Why did such a small island nation exert such an immense psychic hold on the rest of the world? These were all questions that would never be answered without visiting. So, when the opportunity for an open-ended trip to Cuba presented itself, Butler jumped at the chance. With no contacts to aid him and no plan other than meeting the actual “old man” from THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA and training with Cuba’s bevy of olympic champion boxers, Butler boarded a plane, beginning an odyssey that would last nearly ten years.
As the product of this journey, THE DOMINO DIARIES is far more than a travelogue or sports memoir. While boxing is the centerpiece of Butler’s pursuits, it’s through the lives of boxers (and other Cuban athletes) that he explores the strange relationship between Cuba and America, and between Cuba and Cubans. Hands down, Cuba produces the most world class fighters of any nation. Yet, they are forbidden by the Castro regime from ever turning professional and live in poverty like the majority of their comrades. Of course, it is well known that many Cuban boxers do defect to America in order to pursue their dreams, but far more decide to forego potential millions and remain. It is this impossible choice that fascinates Butler. And THE DOMINO DIARIES will fascinate any reader with an interest in culture, politics, literature, sports, and the ways they intertwine.
Over the course of his time in Cuba, Butler interviewed locals, expats and experts for THE DOMINO DIARIES. Even though (unapproved) books are banned in Cuba, it has one of the highest literacy rates of any nation, and Cubans are just as fanatical about literature as they are about sports. Numerous books related to Cuba are mentioned to Butler in passing or consulted by him during his research. So, if you’re interested in all things Cuba, here’s some further reading to consider:
