An edition of A book (1976)

A book

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  • 4.2 (5 ratings) ·
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Last edited by ImportBot
February 28, 2022 | History
An edition of A book (1976)

A book

  • 4.2 (5 ratings) ·
  • 117 Want to read
  • 7 Currently reading
  • 8 Have read

Description
""Welcome to A Book, in which I try to explain how a kid from Cuba found a way to make a living in the United States. It's all here -- the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, the unbelievably lucky breaks, and the heartbreaking failures. "Except for my first experience with sex, a major earthquake, and a revolution in which we managed to lose everything we had, life in Cuba was lovely. Exile in Miami was a time for survival, when I perfected many interesting trades such as mobile canary-cage cleaner and broken-mosaic-tile salesman. Father Barry and Al Capone, Jr., helped me finish high school. There I learned much about America and her people while carrying on my battle with her language. "While I was playing guitar and singing at the Roney Plaza in Miami Beach, Xavier Cugat offered me a job with his orchestra. I had to steal from the Waldorf-Astoria kitchen to live on what he paid me. What he taught me was worth a fortune. When I quit and went back to Miami, he sent me a small 'Latin' band. When they arrived, I knew I'd been had. In desperation I started beating the hell out of a big Afro-Cuban drum, and the conga was born in the U.S.A. It became a craze and got me all tangled up. Too Many Girls took me to Hollwood and Lucy. After that I decided to forget about too many girls. It was safer. "If you think those first two decades were a little crowded, wait until you read about the next two. I am sure you will understand about the milk girls and the Bingo girls, but Lucy didn't and filed to divorce Staff Sergeant Arnaz. "You will learn what Lucy and I had to do to convince people we could play husband and wife in I Love Lucy. Shortly afterward Lucie and Desi Jr. were born and our world was paradise. The irony of it all is how our undreamed-of success fame, and fortune turned it into hell. It wasn't easy to write about all of it, but as my son said, 'There's only one way to do it, Dad. Tell it like it was.'"

Publish Date
Publisher
Morrow
Language
English
Pages
322

Buy this book

Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: A Book
A Book
April 1994, Buccaneer Books
Library binding in English
Cover of: A book
A book
1977, Warner Books
in English
Cover of: A Book
A Book
March 1, 1977, Warner Books
Mass Market Paperback in English
Cover of: A Book.
A Book.
1976, Buccaneer Books
in English
Cover of: A book
A book
1976, Morrow
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Autobiography.

Published in
New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
790.2/092/4, B
Library of Congress
PN2287.A69 A32, PN2287.A69A32

The Physical Object

Pagination
322 p., [15] leaves of plates :
Number of pages
322

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL5203163M
Internet Archive
book0000arna
ISBN 10
0688003427
LCCN
75028040
OCLC/WorldCat
1622217
Library Thing
249276
Goodreads
4785354

First Sentence

"I was born in Santiago de Cuba, on March 2, 1917."

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
February 28, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
March 29, 2020 Edited by Mark Monroy Added new cover
February 13, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot remove fake subjects
March 5, 2019 Edited by jenniferzenrick Edited without comment.
August 5, 2011 Created by ImportBot import new book