Miami is full of nice people, even if you are writing about Cuba!

265 Aragon Avenue in Coral Gables: a warm and inviting place to buy books

I particularly liked the promotional pumpkin carving on the outdoor patio bar

Photos: Antonina Vargas

The Books and Books flagship store in Coral Gables is one of the most beautiful bookshops I've ever seen. It is a vast, U-shaped space of high-ceilinged galleries, with warm lighting spilling down on to tables overflowing with fine reading. Every wall is lined with comforting, enveloping shelves. In the interior courtyard of the "U" is a wine-bar where cappuccinos are served beneath rustling palms.

I was nervous in the hours leading up the reading, as Miami takes up a lot of space in the world of Cuban-America. My book is not political per se, but there are many people, I think, for whom my decision to travel in Cuba, as US citizen, cannot help but be seen as a political act in and of itself. Miami, in my imagination, is a place that still holds many Cuban-Americans hostile to the very simplest premise of my book: an American visits Cuba. But although there was an excellent turnout, none of these hostiles apparently go to book readings. I asked how many Cuban-Americans were in the audience and saw at least 8 hands go up in the crowd.

I read a rather poignant scene about a going-away party in the city of Trinidad, for a man named Conrad, who was leaving Cuba, perhaps forever, to emigrate to Miami. When I finished, some of the most interesting questions came from these "Miami Cubans." They were sincere in their curiosity about the island, and nobody seemed to hold my trip against me.


One man in the audience, a lawyer, gave me the excellent news that the statute of limitations on the Trading with the Enemy Act is six years, so that although I violated the law by visiting Cuba, my government's window of opportunity for prosecuting me has closed. I left my email address with Conrad's father-in-law in Trinidad, after the drunken going-away party in May or June of 2000, but I never heard from him after my return to the United States, and one man in the audience thought he could help me try to find him. Stay tuned for the ongoing story of Finding Conrad.

Author photos: Camila de Onis