We've been cooking the pork dishes with the salsas and chutneys. Easy to do several at a time and have nice summer food without reheating the kitchen. An even better collection than I first thought.

As a former Miamian now living in Virginia, reading this wonderful new book was like taking a trip to my hometown. It has many delicious recipes that seem to me to capture the true essence of tropical cuisine. Try making the Hot and Tangy Black Bean Dip for an easy (and low fat) snack that will wake up your taste buds.I prepared the Calabazas and Sweet Potato Soup for company and received raves reviews from my guests.It's really simple to make and everyone will think you worked all day cooking it.Mmmmiami also offers the reade an interesting history of the growth of So. Florida and the influence that the influx of Latin tourists, businesspeople and immigrants have had on the culture.The book's witty and clever text explains why tropical cuisine is now the hottest food trend sweeping the country.I think this wonderful book should be a staple (like black beans and rice)in the house of any serious cook. I recommend Mmmmiami highly.

A wonderful book if I still lived in Miami. The availability of some of the products might be limited to Florida and major metropolitan areas. I would love Carole to publish something from her early cooking classes. I rely on those recipes on a regular basis.

This book by one of the authors of Secret Missions, offers a pleasant and often poignant glimpe of the history of Miami's Cuban community. Rather than books of this kind, the author shows his respect for Miami's Cuban community although he does not emphasize the glittering success of its most powerful indivuduals. Rather, the book covers everyone from Peter Pan arrivals to Mariel boat people and rafters. A model study, and illustrated with wonderful cartoons and photographs.

The Authors Asis and Levine have created an excellent documentary of the Cuban immigration to Miami-Dade county. The book takes one from the 1930s to the present. It explains ins and outs the Cuban life in Miami. It is a very neutral book which neither glorifies nor demeans the Cuban immigration to Miami and Florida. It simply explains the reasons of Cuban behavior which might seem somewhat confusing to a non-Cuban as well as other races and nationalities from Latin America.

Miami and Cuba had a long relationship way before the revolution came to the island nation. Many of the wealthy sugar barons, rum distillers and tobacco kings kept their cash in South Florida. Miami was the playground for the rich and famous of Cuba usually occupying more hotel space than the rather well known northern snow birds of today.

The politics of dislocation is discussed indepth to help one understand the often hostile position of Cuban-Americans toward Castro and Cuba today. Something of a surprise for me was the way the first wave of exiles often viewed the newcommers of the second wave commanly known as the Marielitos with suspicion.

The influence of wealthy Cuban businessmen of yesterday and today are felt in many places of the US in Finance, Educational Scholars, Politics and Government. They superficially touch base on this without going into a lot of detail but it still one understand from where they have come from to where they are going.

The Catholic church plays a very important role in almost all Cubans' lifes. Many of the cultural and religious specific traditions are explained in great detail. All of the refugees from the first wave and operation Pedro Pan were mainly cared for by Catholic charaties, which also reinforces their beliefs and support for the church.

Gloria Estefan, Willy Chirino, Silvio Fontanellas and other Cuban-Americans who have contributed to Cuban culture in the area of music and arts is only briefly discussed on several pages. As a passionate listner of Cuban music, I thought it would have been great if they would have introduced other Cuban musicians in South Florida but then again, this is not a publication about Cuban music.

Exiles love to dream about the Island but I think this chapter is a little bit niave as most of the Cubans think that once Castro is gone they will all return home. I have been in Europe during the fall of the wall and many of the former East Germans dreamt about going back to their former country and rebuilding their homes and reuniting their families. This all turned out to be falacy. Those that tried to come back and claim their property were detested by their families who remained in the Communist part and saw their relatives from West with a lot of suspicion. Many family reunions didn't last long and the their dreams were shattered. Things will be different when Castro is gone but it will not be like most Cuban exiles think. Family members who have stayed in Cuba the entire time will want to have their property as well, citing the suffering they have endured under Castro as their rights to the deeds. More important is that exile Cubans understand what caused the revolution and that they try to avoid the pitfalls of their predecessors.

Most companies prepare a business plan and if it is not bearing fruit after a certain amount of time they decide to try something else. Perhaps the Cuban exile community should try and persue a dialogue with Cuba. Fourty years of isolation hasn't worked guys.

Excellent! This book manages to provide a comprehensive textual documentary of the Cuban exile experience in Miami in an easy-to-read manner. It accomplishes this with its great visual exposition of photographs ranging from the early 1900's to the present time, as well as a thorough analysis of this group's migration to this country.

For those interested in understanding the Cuban-American experience, especially after the Elian Gonzalez events, this book is a must. Ironically, and it gives it more credibility, this book was written prior to the Elian saga. Yet, I think it can help answer to others why this group of opinionated, passionate, and often stubborn Cuban-Americans have reacted the way they have on the Elian debate. It indeed answers a lot of questions regarding the political, economic, and social idiosyncrasies of Cuban-Americans. Answers to such questions as why Cuban-Americans are the only Hispanic group (and probably only "minority" in this country) with an overwhelming Republican Party affiliation? Why economically Cuban-Americans have been such great implementers of the "American Dream" in such a short amount of time? Why socially Cuban-Americans are closer to the American family and religious values held in the 1950s in this country?

The authors have done a wonderful job of capturing and reporting a sense of a Cuban-nostalgic state-of-mind that only exists in the Cuban-Americans' psychic, almost frozen in time. It is a testimony of perseverance and survival to the older and first generation of Cuban exiles that arrived in this country. Their main accomplishment has been to be able to pass this "dream" or state-of-mind to the next generations. The book's last page states - "In Miami, but not in Havana, you can buy a "Cuban sandwich" and "Cuban bread," Bacardi rum and Hatuey beer." This I find ironic and hopefully fitting. Who knows? It is, I think, in the end this kind of Cuban-American capitalistic mentality which might bring back to Cuba itself a sense of Cuban identity at some point in time. Not to mention of course a sense of family and religious believes kept alive by that first generation of exiles. A sense of family and religious believes that unfortunately no longer exist in that island.

Like other groups of immigrants to this country, this book shows the Cuban-American experience as homage to the human spirit, survival, and a great tribute in itself to this great country of ours. If you're of Cuban descent and live in exile, this book will make you proud, sad, and also hopeful. If you're not of Cuban descent and living in this country, this book will make you better understand that other group of Americans residing in "Cuban Miami". And yes, it should also make you very proud of this country.

If I say "I wanna go to Mi-yami!" will it make me sound too whiny?

Who cares? After paging through "Miami Heatwave," the first book to feature the work of talented videographer and photographer Ron Williams, and set against the backdrop of South Florida, who wouldn't be saying the same thing?

Anyone who has ever sampled Williams' video work will appreciate this collection of still photographs. The artistry of Williams lens, the absolute physical perfection of every single male model, and the fine quality of printing (by Bruno Gmunder publishers) combine to make this one of the best collections of beautiful male photography seen in a long time.

The only quibble I have with "Miami Heatwave" is that some models are featured more than others, and the book isn't nearly extensive enough. But then, how could you ever get enough of Manny's big grin, Darren's silken, shelf-like pecs with their chocolate brown nipples, and blond Mark's amazingly perfect torso and six-pack abs? And then there's the famous Aaron, with his blond, boy-next-door gone bad hunkiness. Sigh.

With Williams' discerning eye, I can imagine he probably has material for 40 books in his (no doubt) enormous files, but his reputation for showing only his very best work may prevent most of what he has done to ever see that light of day. What a shame for his fans like me, if only because Williams' work, even on his worst day, easily outshines the best offerings of others working in the same field.

For now, anyway, we will have to be content with what Williams offers us - but let's hope that soon there will be a "Miami Heatwave II," - and III, and IV . . .

The blurb on the back cover is absolutely right, these guys do create " a desire for summer adventure" If you've never seen a Vista Video this book will certainly get you in the mood to watch one. Many of the Vistamen are here including Aaron, one of the models whose most synonymous with Vista Video, Carlos and Eric (two of the longest serving) and many others. These portraits are sheer works of art thanks to the models themselves and also to Ron Williams' skill as a photographer. The best picture in my opinion is of Jeremy, in a close-up with his arms hugging himself and his head at a cute, almost inquistive angle, as he looks into the camera with a warm heart-tugging gaze. But then all the guys look wonderful and even manage to keep most of their clothes on, except Mark, another of my favourites who cheekily stands nude behind a strategically placed surfboard. Some may find the lack of nudity boring, I think it makes an agreeable contrast to the more revealing nature of Vista Video productions.
This photobook is superb; A stunning book full of stunning men, which should appeal to anyone who likes good looking men.

This book of male models is not a "Heatwave" it's a "Miami Scorcher." Ron Williams has gathered together 14 very handsome, muscular young men, photographed in brilliant color. I usually like black and white photography better because I believe it has more feeling, but this new collection of Ron William's is breathtaking in its exciting photos of men in outdoor surroundings. I especially enjoyed models, "Federico, Aaron & Carlos." What handsome & masculine men they are. Most models are photographed in swimwear, shorts, jeans & underwear. There is no need for frontal nudity, the men are much more erotic shown this way.

Ron Williams is an Emmy Award winning director living in Miami, who has created many corporate commercials in the last 20 years. He is well-known for his VistaMen series of physique art videos showcasing many stunning sensual men who are physique models. I really enjoyed this book & hope to see more books published of his fine photography in the near future.

Once again Virginia Ellis captures the tone of a past era. This time she takes us to the 1940s and WWII. Who would have thought an author with the ability to bring the late 1800s alive could do the same for an era many of our parents lived through? But she does it with grace and style and a compelling characters. This is a story once again about woman who band together in crisis. It's a theme obviously close to Ms. Ellis' heart, one she understands and portrays beautifully.

If you loved The Wedding Dress, than you'll love The Photograph. And if you've read neither, treat yourself. BOth are books you'll read more than once.

I absolutely loved "The Wedding Dress" and was very excited when I learned of Ms. Ellis' new book "The Photograph". Even with it being much lengthier than her first, I had it read in only a few short days! Like her first book, the writing is so captivating that I couldn't stop reading. Every free moment was spent with Maddy, Ruth and their unfolding deception amid their heart-felt dreams. When I was not reading, I was thinking of them, knowing them so well that they seemed good friends of mine. Ms. Ellis is a talented writer who keeps me wanting more. I am anxious for her next book!

The only complaint (if you can call it that) that I have about The Photograph is that the ending seemed too accelerated. After spending so much time with the characters, it seemed as though it got wrapped up too quick in the end... it's really a compliment, I guess, that I would have rather spent another chapter or two with them! A true feel good story that will capture your heart.

The Japanese turned Maddy Marshall's seventeenth birthday into a day that will live in infamy. The boys she has known all her life in Radley, Pennsylvania quickly start volunteering to serve in the military. Her brother Davey joins the marines and her almost engaged to boyfriend Lyle enlists in the navy.

A few weeks later, Davey sends for his wife Ruth recovering from a miscarriage and Maddy to join him in Miami before he ships out. In Miami, Maddy meets injured English pilot turned instructor Lieutenant Stephen Tull-Martin. The first night they meet, a photograph is taken of the extended group. As Stephen and Maddy fall in love, she understands the danger her beloved and her brother face, but it is the photograph that eerily portrays reality.

This is an exciting World War II tale that vividly brings to life the home front especially places like Miami bustling with soldiers and no available abodes for family members to reside. The characters are a deep group, providing much more than a romance as each one opens a window to the past, especially 1942. The mysticism of the photograph seems strange and yet fits the mood of fear for loved ones. Virginia Ellis provides fans of historical tales with a powerfully timely descriptive look at mostly 1942 America.

Harriet Klausner

Even the title is intriguing, although it has little to do with the story behind it. After savoring the title, you will find that this is a real "buddies" yarn, consisting largely of first-person versions of the same events seen from different points of view. The four main characters, though differing considerably in personality and profession, have in common their age (mid-30's), residence (Miami apartment complex), and an interest in picking up women. In fact, it is the pickup game that leads to the inconvenient incident of the teenage druggie dying of an overdose in the car. Willeford uses this event to introduce the idea that these men are not just drinking pals but that their relationship pervades their lives in various ways. We see how they complement one another in collaborating to get rid of the body. And this sort of problem occurs a couple more times, since they do have this difficulty with handguns in that whenever a pistol appears, someone ends up embarrassingly dead. But Willeford disposes of the bodies between chapters, without bothering the reader with details. Because he is not writing a crime novel. These violent happenings are introduced to see how the four friends will react as a group. He manages to create plenty of suspense by dealing with how the group collaborates in solving their individual and complicated domestic problems. And he is inventive enough to keep the reader hooked until the end. Willeford's expert writing provides a transparent window into his characters' lives. He is so accomplished that you almost think you could do it yourself. As in other of his novels, he finds opportunity to satirize men's clothing styles (early on, he discovered the vein of humor uncovered by whoever induced men, or their wives, to believe that male clothing styles should change every year or so - remember the Nehru jacket?). I read this book while recuperating from minor abdominal surgery, and the description of the "makout" attire affected by one of the buddies put me in danger of literally splitting my sides. All in all, this book is among the best from an always superior writer.

Quentin Tarantino has admitted to being influenced by the writing of Charles Willeford, and the "The Shark Infested Custard" is the most Tarantinoesque of Willeford's novels. Too hardcore to be published in the 70's, it finally was released after the writer's death. Anybody who has seen "Pulp Fiction" will notice obvious parallels with Willeford's novel: for example, the first chapter (whose surprises, by the way, are given away on the back cover, so I'm not spoiling anything) ends with a drug dealer being killed when a gun "accidentally" goes off. There's lots of raunchy sexual content, scattered outbursts of violence, and a few small dollops of racism. The novel's heroes are four self-absorbed borderline sociopaths, and the story consists of four separate interconnected narratives. Incidentally, Tarantino is writing the introduction to an upcoming Willeford reprint; maybe he could film one of his novels and give Willeford's writing even wider exposure. ("The Woman Chaser" would make a great Tarantino movie...)

Willeford himself considered this his best book and if you read it you'll see why. Technically a novel, the book is really short storie with the same characters--four sociopathic swingers in Miami. Set in the seventies, the plot may have been too risque for its time, but with movies like Pulp Fiction and In the Company of Men invading our pop culture the bleak story is more timely than ever. A masterpiece of crime fiction.

This is a great book. When reading it, one has the feeling the story's bottom line has been lived in full by the author himself. If you have gone through a difficult period in life and immersed yourself in a personal passion to help ease the pain, this story is for you. Faanes' pain is divorce, his passions are rare birds and the disappearing habitats that sustain them.

He tells the story of a bird watcher---and a good one at that---who seeks to learn the real condition of a species thought to be on the brink of extinction. It is an enviable job; he gets to hop from one obscure island to the next, tracking down exotic birds, drinking the tropical beverage of choice---the Goombay Smash---and melting into a lay-back local scene seemingly set on slow-motion. And we can't forget the drug dealer dodging. A couple of Americans with binoculars and government papers draw attention to themselves in the lower latitudes. Sometimes this helps, sometimes it puts their lives in danger. I now have no choice but to pay a visit to the Dominican Republic. Read the book and you won't either.

His journey is a blast, but you can't help get the feeling that through this chase what the character really hopes to find is personal peace. All this with the wise lyrics of Jimmy Buffet and the Hiaasen-like, laugh-out-loud situations that for some unknown reason are only found in Florida and other tropical places to the south.

Faanes' story is fun and enlightening at the same time---a thrilling ride from an author who I hope will take us on many more.

 
 
If you're a birder, particularly a male birder, buy this book!

Take William Least Heat-Moon's travelog "Blue Highways," plunge his Central States' rambling journey 30 degrees south, add birds, booze, and broads, mold it around Jimmy Buffett's song "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes," and there you have it.

For Woodstock-generation male birders like me, Faanes' story rings true. Many passages could have been lifted straight from our own diaries. Who among us hasn't felt the sting of divorce? Been bewildered by a departing woman's irrational behavior? Been amazed during our agony at the serenity we still find afield, time suspended for hours during a quest for an elusive species whose gap on our life list throbs like a dull toothache? And who among us hasn't sought his own means of reconciling to the fact that those dreams of shared years together have crashed? Through this autobiography, Faanes holds up the mirror to us as we join him on a journey to that most magical of places -- Elsewhere.

Rarely have I read an author so transparent, so willing to expose his raw, rough, reactive nature as well as his sophisticated self. Faanes lets the reader in on behaviors most of us would just as soon keep hidden. He weaves his tapestry of emotional healing using threads the color of Kirtland's Warblers, Eskimo Curlews, and a host of Caribbean endemics. Progressing through the book, one experiences the author's emotional transformation, like a songbird in molt. We follow Faanes' on his progressions from a hurting, bitter, highly impulsive male chauvenist to a seasoned researcher laced with mellowness born of a certain savoir faire.

Personal growth aside, this book is a fascinating narrative of birding adventures of which the rest of us can only dream. Imagine being paid to spend time birding in remote areas of the Turks & Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. Faanes' vivid accounts put the reader in the heart of the action. I was particularly fascinated at being able to join him voyeuristically for any number of "life" discoveries - a new bird, airport, airline, food, beer or more exotic drink, willing woman, and even a survival technique or two.

Part of the fun of reading this book is being able to experience Faanes' sometimes dangerous adventures without the risk of actually being there. By recording the full range of his experiences in his book, Faanes provides us with not just a sip of tropical adventure but a fullblown chug. 
 

This is a fast-moving story of a man of science who sought refuge in the things he could understand through the beauty of animals and nature, when the circumstances of his life were not understandable or bearable. It's interesting to see science and logic blend with emotion and spirit in this life-affirming collection of travel stories. Even though the book is constructed in chapters as parts of a whole story, each chapter reads like a short story, while following an overall theme of travel.

In seeking oblivion from pain by immersing himself in every kind of beauty he could find, Faanes found peace with himself and his circumstances. It's about traveling, but it's not JUST about travel or the exotic places Fannes tells about. It's the story of triumph over fear; of peace over pain. It's a story of healing and embracing life. I was charmed by the ironies that the author illustrated and touched by his honesty. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

If you have an interest in offshore racing, take the time and read this compelling book about the father of the the industry. Ever heard of Thunderboat row? Find out the impact he had on some of the largest manufacturers in the country, and their attempts to to keep him out of the boat building business. You will learn about the rise and murder of Don Aronow and how state law enforcement of Florida(at the time led by the infamous Janet Reno) either bungled the investigation, or for whatever reason, let his death go unsolved. You will learn of the allegation that Don Aronow had ties to the mob, South American drug smugglers, and to the DEA. At the end you can surmise what you will of what his life was about, but you can't take away what he meant to the sport of offshore racing. Read it and pay homage.

This book has to be the best summary of politics, drug running, the offshore powerboat industry, the Mafia, crime, corruption and intrigue that I have ever read!! Aronow was an old friend of my family's in New Jersey and when he got murdered we all waited for the book to come out, sure enough it did and was excellent. If you love the mob, fast boats, fast cars, fast horses and beautiful women, BLUE THUNDER is a MUST READ!! Enjoy . . . . . H.L., Florida

It is a wooonderrrrffuuulllll book! Stephanie and Eddie, a great pair!It is a fantastic full house book!

This is the second Stephanie book. And its great! Stephanie has got a crush on the new boy in the neaubor hood, Eddie. She thinks that he's the only boy for her! But one day everyone knows it, and she wishes shea never meet Eddie in her hole life. Isn't it just great to watch how Stephanie gets in trouble, and the crazy ways that makes her out of them? Well that this is the book for you!

I read this book so many years ago, but I just now realized I had never shared my opnions about it. I had lived in Miami for about eight years, and I think I was in my 5th year or so when I finally heard about "Miami" by Joan Didion. It was only after I had finally moved to the Beach that I happened upon it, at Kafka's. At any rate, it is an excellent book. I think about it every time I hear on the news about the bumbling CIA or news of Castro makes the NYTimes. Incidentally, 1987 also saw the publication of "The Corpse Had a Familiar Face," by Edna Buchanan, another equally excellent non-fiction book about this city. I also highly recommend "A Book of Common Prayer" by Ms. Didion.

I've got a bone to pick with Joan Didion, but first let me say that "Miami" is a simply brilliant piece of noir journalism that, in every paragraph, reflects a different aspect of "the Capital of Latin America." Odd that 1987 saw three major non-fiction Miami treatments, all differently motivated: David Rieff's "Going to Miami: Exiles, Tourists and Refugees in the New America," T.D. Allman's "Miami: City of the Future," and Didion's book. Yeah, yeah, at the time, Miami was hot hot hot, Crockett and Tubbs were in the middle of their run, but...Iran-Contragate was also playing itself out, and Miami was an epicenter of Reagan-era, better-dead-than-Red, Contra War intrigue. Didion captures the period beautifully in suitably ominous, conspiratorial tones. She introduces us to a cast of chilling characters--no, wait: she means for us to UNDERSTAND her characters as the driven, chilling, formidable products of "el exilio" and "la lucha"--and leaves no doubt that these are serious men, men who "get things done," men capable of, well, anything.

And my bone? Didion is a wonderful writer who cannot, however, resist long, convoluted, patience-trying Germanic sentences, frontloaded with the universe, embellishing adjective after adjective, wending their way down the page, forestalling all gratification, clarity, or meaning, until finally hitting us between the eyes with the final word-punchline, which invariably leads our eyes to course back up the page in an effort to reconstruct, to rediscover "just where were we going with this." Small price to pay for so delicious a book.

As a 23 year resident in Miami (from NYC) I was astonished at Didion's eloquent articulation of what I haven't been able to describe but have pondered over these many years--the cultural and cognitive disconnect between native Americans and disgruntled Cuban exiles. They talk about LA, but Miami really is Never-Never Land with impossibly obdurant and involuntary immigrants who have no clue or stake in the American values of reasoned discourse, free speech, and fair play and no desire to abandon the cultural attributes that have allowed them to suffer under one form of tyranny or another for a long long time. This books explains what they are thinking--the Cubans--and why they behave the way they do. Well-researched, accurate, and beautifully crafted prose.

I love this man's writing! I started with his fiction and having devoured all there was of that at the time I stumbled on his first book of Miami Herald columns. I bought Paradise Screwed as soon as it was out.
The really exciting thing about Carl is that he takes on the corruption and the sleaze and the bizarre goings on in Florida and makes people aware of them through witty yet hard hitting writing. He isn't afraid to make waves and when you read this book you will begin to wonder about the greasing of the wheels in State politics.
He is passionate about his home state and what is happening to it and as a visitor to Florida on more than one occassion, he has really made me think about the affects of inconsiderate development and tourism.
But even if you aren't keen on any of that, the columns are clever and well written, so it's well worth the read.

Another collection of "baseball-bat-to-the-forehead" columns in a similar writing style as Moore. Both men use biting satire and their wicked wit to tell you what they think, and are unafraid in doing so. Hiaasen is even more impressive I think because his substantive job is still journalism and yet he can find humor in real people and events as easily as in fiction.

These columns are a selection from over the last 20 years of events in South Florida. You don't have to go back any further than 2 years to Elian Gonzalez and the 2000 presidential election to know that there's enough grist-for-the-mill here to fill much more than one book on these two topics alone. Nevertheless Hiaasen reins himself in and spreads his verbal darts around. Topics covered include "Mayor loco", the soon-to-be-gone Marlins, Chads (not a person, those bits of paper, remember?) Dolphins (both the team and the ones that frequently drown offshore), Race Riots, a con artist doctor and a pet-hating extortionist. That's the more exotic stuff. Then there's the normal South Florida fare of crooked politicians, stupid state officials, assorted mobsters and mafia, drugs, guns, and general mayhem and madness. As Hiaasen said in a recent interview "all the paths of slime and disreputability seem to lead here."

The man is a Florida treasure and for those of us who live through what he writes about his humor is a saving grace. Very few of us can express it the way he does so he is our voice of reason saying yes, it's PARADISE SCREWED allright, but we're still alive we can laugh about it.

I think that the previous customer review misses the point of this collection. Its predecessor, KICK ASS, was mostly intended to showcase Hiaasen's brilliance of style. PARADISE SCREWED is not aiming to be KICK ASS, PART TWO; it's not a gathering of columns that did not make the cut for the first volume. Instead, it expands outward to focus on issues. Its purpose is entirely different (as is evident from the title), and so is the principle of selection. The writing itself, though, is as biting and as crucial as that in the first collection. Both books are vital and essential.