Arte Publico Press My heart belonged to the South, but somehow I knew I could not escape the North .--- Gerald Poyo Revealing. Well researched. Engaging. Whether Gerald Poyo is writing about Cubans in exile or the island’s struggle for independence or about his great-great-great grandfather who was a lector for Cuban cigar workers (like in the film Anna in the Tropics ), his writing has always been well-researched and detailed, as is his new book. Poyo turns to family again in A LATINO MEMOIR: EXPLORING IDENTITY, FAMILY AND THE COMMON GOOD. The author is tracing his family’s roots across five generations and two continents. The writing is wonderfully descriptive and engaging. It’s interesting to learn about our ancestors, their passions and dreams, and realize that those traits are within us. SUMMARY: In a bumpy, anxiety-producing plane ride across the Straits of Florida to Cuba in 1979, graduate student Gerald Poyo knew h...