Michael Shapiro

Madison native Michael Shapiro will discuss the book Under Cuba’s Hood: What Cubans Say About Their Old American Cars, out now in paperback. The bilingual text telling the stories of the owners of Cuba's stranded-in-time autos is accompanied by photographs by Juan Carlos Alóm. Shapiro gathered stories for the book on visits to Cuba over two decades, so he should have some interesting tales about traveling in a country that has been fairly difficult for Americans to explore for most of the last six decades.

media release: Join Madison native Michael Shapiro, author of the English-Spanish bilingual work “Under Cuba’s Hood: What Cubans Say About Their Old American Cars” for an intimate, guided tour through today’s Cuban car culture. 

Working with celebrated Cuban photographer Juan Carlos Alóm, the author visited Cuba some 15 times over a period of more than 20 years to create this book. Through photographs and anecdotal vignettes from Cubans of all walks of life, Shapiro hosts an uncensored excursion through the streets of urban and rural Cuba for those unable to visit. 

Learn about Cuba’s “rolling museum” in the words of the actual curators, the Cubans themselves. Uncover the mystery of the pre-1960s American automobile that still provides the backbone of Cuban transportation and reflects on the day-to-day lives of Cubans like nothing else.

Both paperback and hardcover editions of the book will be for sale. This author event is FREE to attend, like all our author events!

Cost: FREE