A strong, left-leaning history of the U.S. government’s long-standing vendetta against Cuba.
A book-length essay on the history of Cuba-U.S. relations.
On a visit to Havana, Prashad received a book from famed Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez to deliver to Prashad’s friend and fellow scholar Chomsky. The gift sparked a conversation between Prashad and Chomsky, co-authors of The Withdrawal, which they transcribed and edited to create this book. Despite the general title, the text mostly focuses on Cuban resistance to U.S. aggression. “We cannot think of another case like this in world history,” they write, “of a small country practically engulfed by the world’s most powerful state, which is trying to destroy it, yet managed to survive—and not only survive but succeed in many ways.” With a population smaller than that of greater New York City, Cuba’s status as “a threat to be contained” feels disproportionate to its size. Additionally, its enviable health and education outcomes, as well as its intervention in struggles like those against apartheid South Africa, ought to position Cuba as a model of morality, rather than as an enemy. One of the main sources of the U.S. government’s animosity toward Cuba lies in the island’s refusal to fall in line with American economic interests, an impressive feat for such a tiny, underresourced country. The authors back their well-formed argument about the disturbing tone of U.S. aggression toward Cuba with little-known primary-source documents and extensive statistics about Cuba’s contributions to the globe and, in particular, the global South. At times, the writers sugarcoat Cuba’s flaws—e.g., dismissing the island’s homophobic history and the negative consequences of Fidel Castro’s narcissism. While disappointing, this lack of nuance is not enough to override the authors’ central argument, as they clearly demonstrate “the suffocation that the United States has tried to implement against Cuba.”
A strong, left-leaning history of the U.S. government’s long-standing vendetta against Cuba.Pub Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781620978573
Page Count: 208
Publisher: The New Press
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A dauntless, moving account of a kidnapping and the horrors that followed.
Enduring the unthinkable.
This memoir—the first by an Israeli taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023—chronicles the 491 days the author was held in Gaza. Confined to tunnels beneath war-ravaged streets, Sharabi was beaten, humiliated, and underfed. When he was finally released in February, he learned that Hamas had murdered his wife and two daughters. In the face of scarcely imaginable loss, Sharabi has crafted a potent record of his will to survive. The author’s ordeal began when Hamas fighters dragged him from his home, in a kibbutz near Gaza. Alongside others, he was held for months at a time in filthy subterranean spaces. He catalogs sensory assaults with novelistic specificity. Iron shackles grip his ankles. Broken toilets produce an “unbearable stink,” and “tiny white worms” swarm his toothbrush. He gets one meal a day, his “belly caving inward.” Desperate for more food, he stages a fainting episode, using a shaving razor to “slice a deep gash into my eyebrow.” Captors share their sweets while celebrating an Iranian missile attack on Israel. He and other hostages sneak fleeting pleasures, finding and downing an orange soda before a guard can seize it. Several times, Sharabi—51 when he was kidnapped—gives bracing pep talks to younger compatriots. The captives learn to control what they can, trading family stories and “lift[ing] water bottles like dumbbells.” Remarkably, there’s some levity. He and fellow hostages nickname one Hamas guard “the Triangle” because he’s shaped like a SpongeBob SquarePants character. The book’s closing scenes, in which Sharabi tries to console other hostages’ families while learning the worst about his own, are heartbreaking. His captors “are still human beings,” writes Sharabi, bravely modeling the forbearance that our leaders often lack.
A dauntless, moving account of a kidnapping and the horrors that followed.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780063489790
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Harper Influence/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.
Portraits in a post-pandemic world.
After the Covid-19 lockdowns left New York City’s streets empty, many claimed that the city was “gone forever.” It was those words that inspired Stanton, whose previous collections include Humans of New York (2013), Humans of New York: Stories (2015), and Humans (2020), to return to the well once more for a new love letter to the city’s humanity and diversity. Beautifully laid out in hardcover with crisp, bright images, each portrait of a New Yorker is accompanied by sparse but potent quotes from Stanton’s interviews with his subjects. Early in the book, the author sequences three portraits—a couple laughing, then looking serious, then the woman with tears in her eyes—as they recount the arc of their relationship, transforming each emotional beat of their story into an affecting visual narrative. In another, an unhoused man sits on the street, his husky eating out of his hand. The caption: “I’m a late bloomer.” Though the pandemic isn’t mentioned often, Stanton focuses much of the book on optimistic stories of the post-pandemic era. Among the most notable profiles is Myles Smutney, founder of the Free Store Project, whose story of reclaiming boarded‑up buildings during the lockdowns speaks to the city’s resilience. In reusing the same formula from his previous books, the author confirms his thesis: New York isn’t going anywhere. As he writes in his lyrical prologue, “Just as one might dive among coral reefs to marvel at nature, one can come to New York City to marvel at humanity.” The book’s optimism paints New York as a city where diverse lives converge in moments of beauty, joy, and collective hope.
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781250277589
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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