Publication

2000-04-01 - Ecco Press

Language

English

Word Count

69,750 words, Guess

Page Count

279 pages

Identifiers

  • Open LibraryOL7275923M
  • ISBN-139780060196608
  • ISBN-100060196602
  • OCLC Control Number43286998
  • Library of Congress Control Number00020523
and 1 more
  • LibraryThing737953

Classifications

  • LCCGV592.C82 P75 2000

Description

In an artful pastiche of observation, personal narrative, interviews, and investigative reporting, S.L. Price, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, describes sports and athletes in today's Cuba. On his journeys to the island, Price finds a country that celebrates sports like no other and a regime that uses games as both symbol and weapon in its dying revolution. He finds Olympic and world champion boxers, track stars, volleyball and baseball players, but he also finds that with Castro's revolution staggering beneath the weight of a great depression, Cuba's famed sports system is imploding. Athletes are defecting by plane and raft. Superstars bike to games and legends like boxer Teofilo Stevenson are forced to lost themselves in a bottle of rum. Beyond an examination of sports in the hothouse of revolution, Pitching Around Fidel presents a vibrant and realistic portrait of Cuba today, complete with sex-happy tourists, blackouts, Fidel's famous former lover, and a black-power fugitive wanted in the U.S. for murder and hijacking. At once a biting travelogue and a meditation on sports in both America and Cuba, Pitching Around Fidel is a valuable document about a time and place that is close to fading away.

First Sentence

I am George Washington.

Description

"In a pastiche of observation, personal narrative, interviews, and investigative reporting, S. L. Price, a Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated, describes sports and athletes in today's Cuba. On his many journeys to the island, Price finds a country that celebrates sports like no other and a leader who uses athletics as both symbol and weapon in his country's dying revolution.". "In interviews with Teofilo Stevenson, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, and Ana Quirot, S. L. Price unearths the truth about sports in Cuba and explores the complex reasons that drive athletes of promise to flee their homeland. Beyond an examination of sports in the hothouse of revolution, Pitching Around Fidel presents a vibrant and realistic portrait of Cuba today, complete with sex-happy tourists, blackouts, Fidel's famous former lover, and Charles Hill, a black nationalist fugitive wanted in the United States for murder and hijacking."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Other Editions

  • Pitching Around FidelEcco Press2000-04-01

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