From Cuba to New Jersey: A Refugee's Journey of Resilience with Author Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi

My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi, author of the book The Mango Chronicle. “The Mango Chronicle” is Ric’s first book-length manuscript, but he has had several published narrative essays about growing up in Cuba. These have appeared in Acentos Review, HEAL Literary Journal, Gainesville Magazine, Biostories, Foliate Oak, Lunch Ticket, The Bellingham Review, and Hispanic Culture Review. Other published pieces include poetry (including a self-published collection of bilingual children’s poems), narrative essays, and over fifty scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals. He is a member of the Authors’Guild, Writers’ Alliance of Gainesville and has served as a nonfiction reader for The Atticus Review.

He spends his with his family, four grandchildren, his wife and daughters. He loves dogs, hiking, playing in the dirt (when not playing his guitar), planting fruit trees, tinkering on his farm, practicing ventriloquy with his two (very accommodating) puppets, kayaking, learning languages, sketching, photography and crafting short films (Youtube channel Mango for You. @MangoforYou2day).

In my book review, I stated The Mango Chronicle is a wonderful memoir that reads more like a novel. I loved hearing Ric's stories about growing up in Cuba, as well as his heart-wrenching stories about his first years as an immigrant.

I have always found it interesting how a child views life. We assume that living in communist Cuba was terrible. And there were definitely aspects that were bad. But on many levels, at least to a child, he has glorious memories of his Uncle, his grandmother, his friends, neighborhood pranks, sports, kite flying, and adventures. Whether he was using his slingshot or stealing a rowboat, Ric saw Cuba from the eyes of a child who loved where he lived.

When his family moves to New Jersey, he lets us into his child's mind as he tries to navigate a new world with a new language. Some of these stories were funny. Others were not. But throughout it all, Ric's upbringing helped him forge a path forward.

His recollections made me laugh, ponder, swear under my breath, and even cry. You are going to love this book!

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You can follow Author Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi

Website: https://gonzalezrothiauthor.com/

LinkedIn: @ricardo-gonalez-rothi

Purchase The Mango Chronicle on Amazon:

Paperback: https://amzn.to/4kfvvCf

Ebook: https://amzn.to/4nza81O

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