Thursday, March 13, 2008

Cuba’s Fidel Castro Tries to Capture Asian Readers

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-cuba-castro-asia.html

What, like with a net? 

No, it appears that he’s aiming his autobiography at readers in Asia. Following last week’s release of his book in Mandarin , translations in Hindi, Farsi, Hindhalese are set to follow.

I thought the title would be something exciting like “How to Become Leader of Your Own Communist Country in Ten Easy Lessons”.  Instead, he chose the boring “Fidel Castro: My Life – A Spoken Autobiography.”  Come on, dude.  How do you expect to move any product with a title like that?

Let us not forget that this is the same paranoid man who built himself his own private hospital and has a predilection for consuming gourmet hams.   

After a recent visit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pronounced his friend, Mr. Castro, to be “happy, splendid, and full of ideas.”  (Which sounds suspiciously like a euphemism for “babbling lunatic”…)

Why do we read about other (more famous) peoples’ lives?  Does it show us the path to power?  Give us a possible template for success?  Or do they simply allow us to live lavish lives vicariously, if only for a few hours…  

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