An architectural historian by profession, Peter Moruzzi is an acknowledged expert on midcentury Modern architecture and design. He is the founder of the Palm Springs Modern Committee, an internationally recognized historic preservation organization, and the writer/director of Desert Holiday, a documentary film chronicling the history of Palm Springs as seen through vintage postcards. He resides in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles and in Palm Springs.
A fascinating look at Havana, visually rich with hundreds of photos
and other unique images, this addition to the literature on one of
the world's urban architectural treasures is authored by an
architectural historian. Moruzzi's fluid text embellishes the
illustrations, drawn mostly from his own collection. Havana enjoys
a captivating history, and the legacy of gambling, hotels, drugs,
sex, and nightlife makes for an unparalleled reading
experience.
Moruzzi emphasizes the building boom of the 1950s, when American
mob characters benefited from President Fulgencio Batista's corrupt
regime and tourists flocked to the enchanted island a mere 90 miles
from America, helped by airlines and cruise lines offering tour
packages to Havana. The vivid descriptions of casinos and hotels,
many still standing, bring a lost era to life. This attractive book
is written for a popular audience but is highly recommended for
academic as well as public libraries.
--Boyd Childress"Library Journal" (05/15/2008)
A most extraordinary book that fills my heart with profound love,
sadness, and deep nostalgia.
--Andy Garcia (10/09/2008)
If you're looking for images, "Havana Before Castro" has them in
bulk. Peter Moruzzi's infatuation with Cuba is illustrated in grand
and grandiose style. It's a pop-culture potpourri.
--Peter M Gianotti"Newsday" (09/21/2008)
The glamour of Old Cuba with its music, nightlife, culture and
tropical beauty is perfectly expressed in these pages.
--Desi Arnaz, Jr. (10/09/2008)
[The book] really put me there: It made me feel like I was staying
in towering modernist hotels, ogling dancing girls at nightclubs
like the Montmartre, swilling mojitos with Graham Greene and Meyer
Lansky, and tapping my toes to the Orquestra Aragon.
A juanty, poignant portrait of the city in its pre-revolutionary
heyday as a Caribbean playground. [The book] goes a long way toward
filling in the mental picture of a city that has been enticingly
evoked by movies such as "Our Man in Havana" (1959) and "The
Godfather: Part II" (1974)."
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