The Cultured Girl

Today is the 26th of July, which seems as good a day as any to mention the 26th of July Movement, which was the band of Cuban revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro who overthrew Batista and installed the current Communist regime. (July 26 is actually the date of a thwarted assault on a Cuban army facility in 1953; Castro didn’t actually assume power until 1959.)

For a unique perspective on the Cuban revolution, I highly recommend the memoir Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas. The fast-paced and artfully written book tells Arenas’s incredible life story, starting with his dirt-poor peasant childhood and a youth spent in Castro’s army, then moving onto his eventual persecution and imprisonment as a counterrevolutionary writer and homosexual. Throughout the story—which is weighted heavily toward tales of sexual exploits and gruesome violence—you also get a crash-course in Cuban history and an inside look at what the country was like before, during, and after the revolution. When you’re done with the book, or if you’re too lazy to start it, I also recommend the movie of the same name, starring Javier Bardem and featuring a delightful cameo from Johnny Depp.