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reMade in America: An Immigrant's Journey to the American Dream
When Fidel Castro assumed military and political power of Cuba in 1959, the future of millions of Cuban citizens became unsure. The Cuban Revolution set in motion an immigration train for the Bello and Machado families that lasted more than thirty years and spanned three generations. Fabian Bello was born in Havana, Cuba and immigrated to the United States with his parents and paternal grandmother just 25 days after his third birthday. Although he was a young child when he arrived in Florida, being raised in a family that escaped communism influenced the way Fabian perceives the world and has given him deeper insight and appreciation of the unique values and opportunities available in the United States of America.
In (re)Made in America, Fabian recounts the struggles his family endured, and the price they paid to leave Cuba and start new lives in the United States of America. He relates the trials and triumphs of growing up in a new country and finding his professional path in life and business. Fabian also delves into the pressing issues of our time and explores what it means to value and live the American Dream.
In (re)Made in America, Fabian recounts the struggles his family endured, and the price they paid to leave Cuba and start new lives in the United States of America. He relates the trials and triumphs of growing up in a new country and finding his professional path in life and business. Fabian also delves into the pressing issues of our time and explores what it means to value and live the American Dream.
- GenresNonfiction
135 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 4, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 5, 2023
reMade in America relates the author's move from Cuba to the United States, along with family members who were often separated seeking a new home. It is a story of perseverance and belief in the American dream. It is slightly disappointing that the second half of the book moves into the arena of politics. The topic is obviously very important to the author, as it should be for everyone, but its presence was slightly jarring here. Worth a read.
My thanks to the author, Fabian Bello, for my ecopy of his book and to Goodreads Giveaways, who facilitated my receipt of same in exchange for an honest review.
My thanks to the author, Fabian Bello, for my ecopy of his book and to Goodreads Giveaways, who facilitated my receipt of same in exchange for an honest review.
July 23, 2023
Disclaimer: I received this book from GoodReads for a review.
The first half of this book describes the author's family and their struggle to escape from the Castro regime in Cuba. He goes into detail how certain members of the family couldn't leave until they were past military age, and how the family had to give up almost everything they had to get permission to leave for Spain. From Spain, they were able to get visas to enter the United States. His parents worked hard to provide a good environment for him and his siblings to grow up in, and they decided that his mother should stay home to take care of the kids while the father worked two jobs so that the family could thrive. He describes the hardships he endured in elementary and middle school, and how playing in the marching band allowed him to make friends and start to identify leadership qualities that he would find useful later in life. Going to a community college, he starts to work hard so that he can get into the University of Miami. Once there, he buckles down and also takes some summer internships that blossom into full time summer jobs, which lead to a full time job after graduation. From there his career takes off and blossoms, with an occasional setback. He marries his ideal girl and goes on to a successful carreer.
All of this is very uplifting and very pleasant to read. If it had stopped there, it would have been, in my opinion, a wonderful book. However, at the midway point the book turns political, with a hard right turn and the author embarks on a diatribe against liberals, cancel culture, and wokeness (whatever that is). At this point, the author starts to sound like an announcer on Fox News and the book begins to sound like a campaign ad for Ron DeSantis. Just my saying that means that the author will now lump me in with the liberal/woke/cancelers. So be it.
By the way, Mr. Bello, my great grandmother was Cuban. I never knew her, but I knew my great grandfather, and I know he definitely wouldn't have agreed with the last half of your book.
I won't tell anyone not to read this book. I won't tell anyone to read it. Make your own decisions. I doubt the book will change the way you think either way.
The first half of this book describes the author's family and their struggle to escape from the Castro regime in Cuba. He goes into detail how certain members of the family couldn't leave until they were past military age, and how the family had to give up almost everything they had to get permission to leave for Spain. From Spain, they were able to get visas to enter the United States. His parents worked hard to provide a good environment for him and his siblings to grow up in, and they decided that his mother should stay home to take care of the kids while the father worked two jobs so that the family could thrive. He describes the hardships he endured in elementary and middle school, and how playing in the marching band allowed him to make friends and start to identify leadership qualities that he would find useful later in life. Going to a community college, he starts to work hard so that he can get into the University of Miami. Once there, he buckles down and also takes some summer internships that blossom into full time summer jobs, which lead to a full time job after graduation. From there his career takes off and blossoms, with an occasional setback. He marries his ideal girl and goes on to a successful carreer.
All of this is very uplifting and very pleasant to read. If it had stopped there, it would have been, in my opinion, a wonderful book. However, at the midway point the book turns political, with a hard right turn and the author embarks on a diatribe against liberals, cancel culture, and wokeness (whatever that is). At this point, the author starts to sound like an announcer on Fox News and the book begins to sound like a campaign ad for Ron DeSantis. Just my saying that means that the author will now lump me in with the liberal/woke/cancelers. So be it.
By the way, Mr. Bello, my great grandmother was Cuban. I never knew her, but I knew my great grandfather, and I know he definitely wouldn't have agreed with the last half of your book.
I won't tell anyone not to read this book. I won't tell anyone to read it. Make your own decisions. I doubt the book will change the way you think either way.
August 21, 2023
As a Cuban American, I was very excited to get my hands on this book. The first half is an uplifting story of the struggles of immigration that ultimately result in a positive outcome. Essentially, it is the authors story of realizing their own version of the “American dream.”
If you know about cuban history, you know it is heavily drenched in politics, and you know that cubans who came to America in the 80s did so mostly for political and not economic reasons. Hence, I knew this book was going to discuss politics, but I was not prepared for the tone of the second half of the book.
Again, if you’re familiar with cuban history and politics, you know that there is a large group of cubans, some in the south Florida region, who are republicans. A lot of my own family falls into that category and the rational is that they fled communism and dictatorship, so anything that remotely resembles communism is considered awful. That said, this book dove right into cancel culture, “wokeness,” and sounded like an ad for a right radical republican, to say the least. It was heavily biased and took away from the story of the first half of the book, making me question the authors take on their own experiences.
I’ll give it 1.5/5 stars because I think if you’re looking to understand how right wing cubans see themselves in America, this book will help shed light on that narrative.
If you know about cuban history, you know it is heavily drenched in politics, and you know that cubans who came to America in the 80s did so mostly for political and not economic reasons. Hence, I knew this book was going to discuss politics, but I was not prepared for the tone of the second half of the book.
Again, if you’re familiar with cuban history and politics, you know that there is a large group of cubans, some in the south Florida region, who are republicans. A lot of my own family falls into that category and the rational is that they fled communism and dictatorship, so anything that remotely resembles communism is considered awful. That said, this book dove right into cancel culture, “wokeness,” and sounded like an ad for a right radical republican, to say the least. It was heavily biased and took away from the story of the first half of the book, making me question the authors take on their own experiences.
I’ll give it 1.5/5 stars because I think if you’re looking to understand how right wing cubans see themselves in America, this book will help shed light on that narrative.
November 4, 2023
If this book was just the first half, it would be *fine.* Not particularly good or well written, but an okay story of an immigrant making it in America. Unfortunately, the author spends the second half detailing the evils of the present moment, bemoaning cancel culture, CRT, liberal wokeness, Obamacare, and stating systemic racism doesn’t exist. It was like listening to your crazy uncle at Thanksgiving repeat his talk radio talking points. Needless to say, it was a struggle to get thru.
September 5, 2023
I gave Fabian Bello's book, "reMade in America: An Immigrant's Journey to the American Dream" 2.5 stars out of 5.
When I first started reading the book, I could feel my heartstrings being tugged at. There were parts of the autobiography that struck a chord with me ... the scene with the rat, the bullying, even the extreme ups and downs that come with living a life full of working hard, nose to the grindstone kind of living. I wondered why it was paced so fast and didn't get into the bio very deeply, and that was because the book was only half an autobiography. This part of the book gave me a sense of pride in this country. It was also inspiring. I loved this part of the book and wish the whole book was an autobiography and went deeper. I would have given that book 4 stars.
At the halfway mark, literally, it changes to a series of opinion-based essays. I can tell by the experience that Bello had been through, made these opinions very important to him. I can tell with the passion that Bello writes in these chapters Bello hopes that people will listen and perhaps give a little of their viewpoint if they don't agree with him and it works. I didn't agree with everything Bello wrote in those opinion pieces, but I did agree with some. Even the ones I didn't agree with, I could totally see why Bello did and why it was so important for him to get that message across to others. Even though I don't agree with what Bello was saying completely, there was enough there that I felt it was worth the three stars at least. I had recently given up all my social media accounts and got this account on here because I wanted to shift my focus away from politics. I love politics, and this was politics from a conservative immigrant perspective.
If you are a liberal, you might get incensed by some of what is said in this book in the last half and you can even see where the first half of the book is headed where politics was concerned. If you're a conservative, this is exactly the kind of story you would want to read about an immigrant who came over the legal way, grew up here, educated here, got jobs here, and adhered to strict Christian values. If you're independent like me, you will see some things you agree with, some things you don't, and other things that just aren't that important at the end of the day. Still, it is worth a read if nothing else but for the autobiography as it is inspiring.
Thank you for the copy of the book.
When I first started reading the book, I could feel my heartstrings being tugged at. There were parts of the autobiography that struck a chord with me ... the scene with the rat, the bullying, even the extreme ups and downs that come with living a life full of working hard, nose to the grindstone kind of living. I wondered why it was paced so fast and didn't get into the bio very deeply, and that was because the book was only half an autobiography. This part of the book gave me a sense of pride in this country. It was also inspiring. I loved this part of the book and wish the whole book was an autobiography and went deeper. I would have given that book 4 stars.
At the halfway mark, literally, it changes to a series of opinion-based essays. I can tell by the experience that Bello had been through, made these opinions very important to him. I can tell with the passion that Bello writes in these chapters Bello hopes that people will listen and perhaps give a little of their viewpoint if they don't agree with him and it works. I didn't agree with everything Bello wrote in those opinion pieces, but I did agree with some. Even the ones I didn't agree with, I could totally see why Bello did and why it was so important for him to get that message across to others. Even though I don't agree with what Bello was saying completely, there was enough there that I felt it was worth the three stars at least. I had recently given up all my social media accounts and got this account on here because I wanted to shift my focus away from politics. I love politics, and this was politics from a conservative immigrant perspective.
If you are a liberal, you might get incensed by some of what is said in this book in the last half and you can even see where the first half of the book is headed where politics was concerned. If you're a conservative, this is exactly the kind of story you would want to read about an immigrant who came over the legal way, grew up here, educated here, got jobs here, and adhered to strict Christian values. If you're independent like me, you will see some things you agree with, some things you don't, and other things that just aren't that important at the end of the day. Still, it is worth a read if nothing else but for the autobiography as it is inspiring.
Thank you for the copy of the book.
November 21, 2023
Won in a Goodreads Giveaway -sharing an honest opinion
Welp... I read it. The first half of the book is a story of an immigrant family leaving their Cuba and trying to make a life in America. This part of the book was great because I related to it very deeply. My parents grew up in communist Czechoslovakia and my father made the brave choice in the 80s to leave everything he knew behind to start a new life in the US. I was born 4 years after the regime ended but the echos of my parents upbringing left my mother to the decision to follow my father to the US, myself in tow. Bellos upbringing is strikingly similar to mine. But that is where our alignment ends.
As an immigrant from a formerly communist country, I understand how so many people can slip into the conservative mindset Bello espouses through regurgitate right-wing propaganda. So many members of my family would agree with everything he said in the second half of the book. His pushback against acknowledging America as a racist country is so blind. His incoherent rants about cancel culture, CRT and religion are pure drivel. He's literally blind to the hypocrisy of his statement.
The sad part is, he has some genuinely good learnings and life advice. But it's buried in nonsense.
The only reason I finished this book was to try to get a better understanding of how fellow immigrants fall into this mindset.
Welp... I read it. The first half of the book is a story of an immigrant family leaving their Cuba and trying to make a life in America. This part of the book was great because I related to it very deeply. My parents grew up in communist Czechoslovakia and my father made the brave choice in the 80s to leave everything he knew behind to start a new life in the US. I was born 4 years after the regime ended but the echos of my parents upbringing left my mother to the decision to follow my father to the US, myself in tow. Bellos upbringing is strikingly similar to mine. But that is where our alignment ends.
As an immigrant from a formerly communist country, I understand how so many people can slip into the conservative mindset Bello espouses through regurgitate right-wing propaganda. So many members of my family would agree with everything he said in the second half of the book. His pushback against acknowledging America as a racist country is so blind. His incoherent rants about cancel culture, CRT and religion are pure drivel. He's literally blind to the hypocrisy of his statement.
The sad part is, he has some genuinely good learnings and life advice. But it's buried in nonsense.
The only reason I finished this book was to try to get a better understanding of how fellow immigrants fall into this mindset.
October 13, 2023
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I agree with many of the other reviews. I also loved the first half of the book describing the difficulties in Cuba and emigration. Immigration stories are among my favorite subjects about which to read. Mr. Bello writes in a simple, touching and heartfelt manner. The second half of the book expresses Mr. Bello's personal life philosophy that served him and his family well. As he and his family had escaped the scourge of living in a communist country, he, like many others like him, can speak to the situations that led to their escape, and fears that aspects of culture and politics in the US are leading down a similar road. His fears and philosophy cannot be ignored. He also provides self-help advice for happy and successful family and business relations.
October 19, 2023
-Goodreads giveaway winner-
The first part is him telling his story of coming to America. His family escaped Cuba and communism to pursue the American dream. The last part of the book he switches to his thoughts on the direction America is headed in. I definitely enjoyed this and he is spot on. I know alot of people don't like this book just because they don't agree with his views but unfortunately for America this is the reason we are on a downward spiral. "People don't learn from other people's mistakes" I believe is what was quoted in the book and sadly this is true. We have people telling us all the reasons we don't want socialism and communism, people who have lived in it, and yet we still push the agenda. It's sad... and terrifying.
The first part is him telling his story of coming to America. His family escaped Cuba and communism to pursue the American dream. The last part of the book he switches to his thoughts on the direction America is headed in. I definitely enjoyed this and he is spot on. I know alot of people don't like this book just because they don't agree with his views but unfortunately for America this is the reason we are on a downward spiral. "People don't learn from other people's mistakes" I believe is what was quoted in the book and sadly this is true. We have people telling us all the reasons we don't want socialism and communism, people who have lived in it, and yet we still push the agenda. It's sad... and terrifying.
October 23, 2023
The first half of this book was interesting, but I wanted more detail in how the author and his family dealt with their hardships. The first half of the book felt rushed to get to the second half, which was a genearlized opinion of the author's political point of view. I found the title of this book and the description misleading as I wasn't expecting so much political opinion with broad categorization without data to back up the author's opinions.
Thanks to Goodreads giveaways for the chance to read this book.
Thanks to Goodreads giveaways for the chance to read this book.
October 9, 2023
Half Immigrant's Journey and Half Propaganda
Fabian set up his and his family's story from pre Castro Cuba through today. He painted a picture of how socialism worked in Cuba after Castro which showed the reader why we don't want this in America.
Chapter 8 started Fabian's right wing agenda propaganda for the rest of the book. I was disappointed with this preaching to the reader.
Fabian set up his and his family's story from pre Castro Cuba through today. He painted a picture of how socialism worked in Cuba after Castro which showed the reader why we don't want this in America.
Chapter 8 started Fabian's right wing agenda propaganda for the rest of the book. I was disappointed with this preaching to the reader.
October 13, 2023
It was an Ok touching book at first.. but when you talk about politics and religion .. very sensitive topic for a lot of people. So the if you are into politics like seriously into politics and want to learn and or just read some of that this book is for you. You may or not find it interesting. But overall the book was OK, I just don’t enjoy politics .
November 24, 2023
Good - but not as good as I anticipated
I liked reading about the journey to America and his story of how his fame it only survive, but thrived in America. I didn't care for the final chapters - but a difference of opinion is ok!
I liked reading about the journey to America and his story of how his fame it only survive, but thrived in America. I didn't care for the final chapters - but a difference of opinion is ok!
October 11, 2023
Very disappointed in this book...
October 12, 2023
This book is nothing but propaganda For the republican party! I did not l!! e this book in anyway any shape or any form! Do not recommend in any way! Not my cup of tea!
October 24, 2023
This should be required reading. Americans need a wake up call before the U.S. is ruined. Thank you for the free copy, it’s an excellent book!
December 7, 2023
This was an interesting journey in one’s life. Thank you Goodreads giveaway for this story book.
June 9, 2024
The first half of the book recounted the author’s life; the second half was a socio-economic with political tidbits of the author’s beliefs.
June 25, 2024
I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Greenleaf Book Group for choosing me.
I enjoyed the first half of this book very much. As a daughter of immigrants, it resonated strongly with me. The second half of the book is what keeps me from giving it a higher rating. I was not prepared for the turn the book took, and honestly, I would've preferred to keep reading about the authors life instead of diving into politics and cancel culture.
It's not a bad book, and although it won't be part of my favorites, I don't think the book should be discounted or discredited. It is well written and serves as a glimpse into the obstacles and challenges that immigrants face on a daily basis while striving for a better future for themselves and their families. If he writes another book about his life, I wouldn't not read it.
Although I don't necessarily agree with all of his thoughts in the second half of the book, I do believe that he makes some valid points throughout and that in order for us to continue moving forward as a united country both sides need to be heard.
I enjoyed the first half of this book very much. As a daughter of immigrants, it resonated strongly with me. The second half of the book is what keeps me from giving it a higher rating. I was not prepared for the turn the book took, and honestly, I would've preferred to keep reading about the authors life instead of diving into politics and cancel culture.
It's not a bad book, and although it won't be part of my favorites, I don't think the book should be discounted or discredited. It is well written and serves as a glimpse into the obstacles and challenges that immigrants face on a daily basis while striving for a better future for themselves and their families. If he writes another book about his life, I wouldn't not read it.
Although I don't necessarily agree with all of his thoughts in the second half of the book, I do believe that he makes some valid points throughout and that in order for us to continue moving forward as a united country both sides need to be heard.
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