Custom Red Satin Boxed, Limited Edition of “Under Cuba's Hood / Cuba Bajo el Capó". The Stories and Legacy of Pre-1960 American Cars in Cuba.

The author of this book donated several copies of this bi-lingual, Limited Special Edition, of which only 200 copies are in print. While supplies last, this item is listed as a ‘buy now’ option, no bidding.  Books will ship at no cost to buyers via USPS Priority Mail Delivery. If looking for a unique gift for vintage automobile aficionados, this would be ideal.

The book is handsomely presented in a custom red satin box with magnet closure and book-lift ribbon, 5 author-selected color prints, and numbered author-signed certificate (from 1 to 200).  A specific number cannot be requested – issued in the order the purchase was made.   Hardcover, color, bilingual English-Spanish edition 224 digitally printed pages. Published by Puente del Sur, 2020. 

The car culture in Cuba is fascinating to almost every traveler who ventures there.  However, his book is not just a history of the American automobile in Cuba. It's about Cubans, and what moves, sustains, and entertains them. Shapiro acquires insight into the lives of Cubans by listening to anecdotes, memories, desires, and hopes, synthesizing them into this work and illustrating the formative spirit of inhabitants of the island. It was while Shapiro was attending a bookfair in Havana in 1998, that he became enchanted, actually simply blown away by the number of pre-1960 American cars in the city — and the stories associated with those cars.  Cuba stopped importing American cars with the start of the revolution in January 1960.  At the time about half the cars on the road were pre-1960 American cars. They are still everywhere in Cuba. Very few of them have their original engines. Shapiro found that the stories about these cars were evocative and engaging and he started recording interviews.

Working with celebrated Cuban photographer Juan Carlos Alóm, the author Michael Shapiro visited Cuba some 15 times over a period of more than 20 years to create this book. Through photographs and anecdotal vignettes from Cubans of all walks of life, Shapiro hosts an uncensored excursion through the streets of urban and rural Cuba for those unable to visit. Learn about Cuba’s “rolling museum” in the words of the actual curators, the Cubans themselves. Uncover the mystery of the pre-1960s American automobile that still provides the backbone of Cuban transportation and reflects on the day-to-day lives of Cubans like nothing else.

Michael Shapiro, MA, MLIS (Madison, Wisconsin 1957) drove his appreciation for old American cars, a box of tools and a beige 1962 Ford Falcon down the Panamericana Highway from San Francisco to Managua, Nicaragua in the mid-1980's; then moved on to found "Libros Sin Fronteras," a US-based, Spanish language book and music distributorship. He traveled regularly to Cuba between 1998 and 2002 to select Cuban books and music for US public and university libraries. Michael gained his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley and master’s degrees in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico, and Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a lifetime member of REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. His penchant for the Spanish language and publishing has allowed him to work with the Gates Foundation funded library cooperative WebJunction (a project of OCLC); and IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology. He has authored articles and essays relating to bilingual education and print and digital content distribution. Michael, his wife Tanya and daughters Isabel and Maya make their homes in Traslasierra, Cordoba, Argentina and Seattle, Washington. "Under Cuba's Hood / Cuba Bajo el Capó" is his first book.

• Name : Michael Shapiro