''Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy'' is a 2003 book by Carlos Eire and winner of the

National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five U.S. annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by U.S. citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists ...

."National Book Awards – 2000"
NBF. Retrieved 2012-01-24. (Select 2000 to 2009 from the top left menu.) The book is autobiographical, about the author's experiences as part of

Operation Peter Pan Operation Peter Pan (or Operación Pedro Pan) was a clandestine exodus of over 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors ages 6 to 18 to the United States over a two-year span from 1960 to 1962. They were sent after parents feared that Fidel Castro and ...

Author

Professor Eire, who received his PhD from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1979, specializes in the social, intellectual, religious, and cultural history of late medieval and early modern Europe. He has a strong focus on both the Protestant and Catholic Reformations; the history of popular piety; and the history of death. He is the author of ''War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship From Erasmus to Calvin'' (1986); ''From Madrid to Purgatory: The Art and Craft of Dying in Sixteenth Century Spain'' (1995); and co-author of ''Jews, Christians, Muslims: An Introduction to Monotheistic Religions'' (1997). He has also ventured into the twentieth century and the Cuban Revolution in ''Waiting for Snow in Havana'' (2003), which won the National Book Award in Nonfiction, 2003.

Reception

''Waiting for Snow in Havana'' was chosen as the Philadelphia One Book, by Mayor of Philadelphia John F. Street, who said:

"In 1962, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Cuba-exiled from his family, his country, and his own childhood by the
revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
. The memories of Carlos's life in
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
, cut short when he was just eleven years old, are the heart of this stunning, evocative, and unforgettable memoir. ''Waiting for Snow in Havana'' is both an exorcism and an ode to a paradise lost. For the Cuba of Carlos's youth-with its lizards and turquoise seas and sun-drenched siestas- becomes an island of condemnation once a cigar-smoking guerrilla named Fidel Castro ousts President
Batista Batista is a Spanish or Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player * Dave Bautista, American actor and professional wrestler, also known as Batista * Edina Alves Batis ...
on January 1, 1959. Suddenly the music in the streets sounds like gunfire. Christmas is made illegal, political dissent leads to imprisonment, and too many of Carlos's friends are leaving Cuba for a place as far away and unthinkable as the United States. Carlos will end up there, too, and fulfill his mother's dreams by becoming a modern American man- even if his soul remains in the country he left behind. Narrated with the urgency of a confession, ''Waiting for Snow in Havana'' is a eulogy for a native land and a loving testament to the collective spirit of Cubans everywhere."back cover

Awards and honors

*2003

*2007 One Book, One Philadelphia

References

2003 non-fiction books Free Press (publisher) books National Book Award for Nonfiction winning works Cuban-American literature {{bio-book-stub