Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey

by Edel Rodriguez

From “America’s illustrator in chief” (Fast Company), a stunning graphic memoir of a childhood in Cuba, coming to America on the Mariel boatlift, and a defense of democracy, here and there

Hailed for his iconic art on the cover of Time and on jumbotrons around the world, Edel Rodriguez is among the most prominent political artists of our age. Now for the first time, he draws his own life, revisiting his childhood in Cuba and his family’s passage on the infamous Mariel boatlift.

When Edel was nine, Fidel Castro announced his surprising decision to let 125,000 traitors of the revolution, or “worms,” leave the country. The faltering economy and Edel’s family’s vocal discomfort with government surveillance had made their daily lives on a farm outside Havana precarious, and they secretly planned to leave. But before that happened, a dozen soldiers confiscated their home and property and imprisoned them in a detention center near the port of Mariel, where they were held with dissidents and criminals before being marched to a flotilla that miraculously deposited them, overnight, in Florida.

Through vivid, stirring art, Worm tells a story of a boyhood in the midst of the Cold War, a family’s displacement in exile, and their tenacious longing for those they left behind. It also recounts the coming-of-age of an artist and activist, who, witnessing American’s turn from democracy to extremism, struggles to differentiate his adoptive country from the dictatorship he fled. Confronting questions of patriotism and the liminal nature of belonging, Edel Rodriguez ultimately celebrates the immigrants, maligned and overlooked, who guard and invigorate American freedom.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Memoir, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Comics, Bande Dessinée

294 pages, Hardcover

Published November 7, 2023

About the author

Edel Rodriguez is a Cuban American artist who has exhibited internationally with shows in New York, Los Angeles, Havana, Berlin, La Paz, Cape Town, Prague, and London. A regular contributor to the New Yorker, the New York Times, and Time magazine, he has created over two hundred magazine and book covers and illustrated several children’s books, including Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx, and is the author of Sergio Jumps and Sergio Saves the Game. Rodriguez’s artwork is collected by various institutions, including the Smithsonian Institution, and has received numerous awards from the Art Directors Club and the Society of Illustrators. Worm is his first graphic novel. He lives in New Jersey.

Reviews

[Regla M. Monkan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I left Cuba in 1968 at the age of nine. I was also labeled a worm, a "gusana". Even though we left years apart, the story is the same if not worse. Edel, in telling your story you told mine as well of all of us who came here looking for freedom. For this I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I sincerely hope that our history does not repeat.

[Rod Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging memoir of Edel Rodriguez's childhood under Fidel Castro's dictatorship in Cuba and his parents' decision to risk everything by fleeing to the United States as part of the Mariel boatlift in 1980 when he was nine years old.

The closing chapters of the book pivot to Rodriguez's editorial cartooning and activism against the increasingly autocratic Donald Trump, a man who reminds him too much of Castro with all the scapegoating, hate-mongering, and big lies.

It's a bit wordy for a graphic novel, but Rodriguez's striking art easily offsets any overlarge blocks of text.

(Best of 2023 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto NPR's Books We Love 2023: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels and the Publishers Weekly 2023 Graphic Novel Critics Poll lists. This book made it onto both.)

[ElphaReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This searing, visceral, and deeply personal graphic memoir is an education on the history of the Castro Regime in Cuba, a story of a family trying to survive in dire circumstances, an immigrant story as a man finds his place and his voice in a new home, and a dire warning about the rise of totalitarianism in American through the eyes of someone who lived it in another place at another time. I found this book to be harrowing and absolutely fantastic.

[Lee Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

How serendipitous to read this immediately after having read volume one of the Gulag Archipelago! My sister recommended this graphic memoire after attending a lecture and book release by Edel Rodriguez, a talented Cuban American artist whose work has famously graced the cover of Time magazine and Der Spiegel. The book is an exceptional combination of his wonderful design aesthetic and an engrossing retelling of his history growing up in Cuba, leaving the country during the Mariel boatlift in 1980, his arrival to the US as an eight-year-old who didn't speak English, his journey to college in NY, how he started his art career, met his wife, and his experiences traveling back to visit his family in Cuba twelve years after leaving. It's one thing to read about how suffocating it is to live under an oppressive, communist regime and imagine these different stories and moments. And it's another thing to see them illustrated. Seeing the facial expressions of his family and neighbors, seeing how emotionally and economically depressed it is/was to live there makes his wonderful writing that much more vivid. Seeing the want of food, medicine, freedom of speech, religion. The horrific indoctrination of everyone is just heartbreaking. Kids are forced to recite their desire to die a glorious death for their country. Neighbors are expected to spy on friends and strangers -to observe their belongings and conversations, encouraged to call anyone who wants to leave the country 'worms' and traitors, and to beat them, sometimes to death for simply wanting a better life and government. His journey is emotionally harrowing and inspiring. My only disappointment in the book is his not-unexpected, hard-left political stance. A highlight of his artistic portfolio is his iconic, tricolor, graphic portraits of Trump - which are brilliant. Vibrant, funny, smart...they are eye-catching and convey a ton with a minimalist aesthetic. But in this 300 page book, conservative readers will have to push through about 30 pages of TDS near the end to get to the amazing ending. Watching an interview with him on YouTube after reading this, I get his passion for sharing how not all Cuban born Americans might lean conservative. They are obviously not a political monolith. That said, his politics do not ruin this otherwise fantastic book, and liberals should find the whole book completely enjoyable.

[Donna Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so-so on this until the end came and absolutely swooped me away. The whole book is a buildup to now, background to this man telling us the story.

[Victoria Ugarte · Rating 5 out of 5]

To quote another book - “survival is insufficient” and in trying times we look to art for answers and Edel Rodriguez delivers. Every Cuban should read this- born in the states or on the island. Votes red or blue. Speaks Spanish or doesn’t. Non-Cubans Leftists and conservatives alike should read this to understand the Cuban “gusano” psyche. The parallels between Trump and Castro have been drawn but Rodriguez goes a step further, highlighting untold stories of immigrants- a driver for the Japanese embassy, a Haitian professor and even the experience of a visiting Mexican artist in cuba. He brings to life and adds context to his own art and his own fears while offering hope. And the artwork? Breathtaking. I want to frame so many prints of this all over my home- like Pipo did with his European magazines.

As a friend said, “to be seen by a book is a wonderful experience.” And this was an experience for me from beginning to end.

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I think about everything my family did to get to this country, I feel lucky to be alive. When I think about the cruelty they faced in their home country for wanting to leave, and again in their adopted one, it adds another layer of meaning to "you can't go home again."

WORM: A CUBAN AMERICAN ODYSSEY hits very close to home. I was the second kid in our family to be born in the USA, and although grateful for everything my family provided, their fears and anxieties about our adopted country were often paralyzing to me and my growth as a woman and as an artist. If you want to understand better why Cuban Americans and Cubans are the way they are, take a read. Our reticence to agree wholeheartedly with any political party is deeply rooted in history. This graphic novel memoir perfectly encapsulates the paranoia and distrust sown by the Cuban Revolution in its own people against its own people.

I'm so grateful to Edel Rodriguez for putting into words what my Marielito family could not say about what it took to get them to the U.S.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely riveting. I've been a fan of Edel's work for the past decade or so, but had no idea about his personal life. As well as being well written, the illustrations are great, too. It's a beautiful book.

[Aisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars - I really enjoyed this work and learning about Cuba at this time - how they portrayed the world and how that all changed when their family living in America came to visit. It was also really interesting talking about each wave of immigration and how responses to them / treatment of them in Cuba varied based on the time. I love learning about that kind of nuance and felt like this was well illustrated and written overall.

I wasn't expecting how at the end of the book the comparisons to Trump from his career as a cartoonist. Seems like such a stark time to be reading about the world's initial reactions to Trump, only to find out that people love him and elected him president and want it to happen again.

This work fulfills SPL's summer book bingo prompt - "Refugee / Immigrant Memoir"

[Marcia Van Camp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have spent many years studying the rise and fall of dictators around the world. It’s always heart breaking to see families suffer and suffer and suffer for decades. This graphic novel taught me so much that I didn’t know about Cuba and now I want to learn even more.

I have mixed feelings about the art because I don’t know his work well enough to know what was his style vs what was stylized to make a point for the book. For the most part, it is not pleasant or beautiful to look at, the art and colors feel harsh and brutal, it feels like the green of military and the red of Communism and blood are ever present. I have been trying to read interviews to learn more about this so I may update the review later.

I knew he got out of Cuba but I was still on the edge of my seat…it’s a miracle they made it out all together. I have so much admiration for his parents and for the ship captain that waited for them.

There is one image of his mom’s body from when she was stripped searched that was not at all offensive but just a head’s up for younger audiences.

[Maria Almaguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My father came to the United States in January, 1958. He was among the first wave of Cubans fleeing the revolution. A boy from the country of Oriente province, clear on the opposite side of the tropical island, he dreamed of attending college in Havana and becoming a doctor. But with the revolution, that dream died and fearing that he'd be forced to participate in the revolution, his parents decided to flee with him, his younger brother, and his cousin. Mr. Rodriguez and his family came much later and experienced an excruciating life under years of the regime, something that my father and his family managed to escape. But both left family behind, who are suffering still to this very day.

With stunning clarity and vivid imagery, Mr. Rodriguez tells his family's heart wrenching story. How brave his father was to bring the family to the United States, at great risk and pain at leaving those behind. And all the things immigrants leave behind in desperation for survival. My father never talked much about it except to say he was very sad to leave and missed his homeland terribly. Determined to learn English and fit in, he never even taught my brother or I to speak Spanish, though he spoke with a thick Spanish accent until his death.

This book was a window into that frightening world. I very much appreciated the author's unflinching honesty in portraying the past as well as his fear for the future of his adopted country. If anyone can see a dictatorship in the making, it's a refugee. But will anyone heed the call of what a danger #45 is to this country? Please continue your important work, Mr. Rodriguez. I am listening.

[Michael H. Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

No acabo de entender bien por qué las novelas gráficas de tema cubano sienten la necesidad de aplastar al lector con tanto texto, tanta explicación innecesaria. Se introduce un hecho histórico y allá va el autor a explicar qué pasó y por qué y cómo. Autores: una novela gráfica no es google. Dejen al lector que, si le viene en ganas, use la wikipedia, total, si todo va de resúmenes, igual va a saber de la misa la mitad.

La novela cuenta en su primer momento la infancia del autor en Cuba y la salida por el puerto del Mariel en 1980, y luego la etapa estadounidense en la que la familia se establece en el sur de la Florida y Rodríguez se inclina por el arte y la arquitectura y viaja a NY a estudiar en la universidad. Los pasajes del éxodo por el Mariel no tienen desperdicio. El autor no se pierde en detalles superfluos y narra bien la agonía de aquellos días inciertos, cómo el Estado comunista se apropió de la casa, el carro y de cada pieza de ropa y equipo eléctrico que había en aquel lugar, y luego la llegada al campamento El Mosquito, donde pernoctaron bajo los árboles a la espera de poder salir hacia Miami.

Del concepto gráfico, el diseño de color y el dibujo nada que reprochar, reflejan a la perfección la naturaleza opresiva del régimen castrista, la manipulación emocional que ejerce un Estado despótico y del que el pasaje final de la confesión del padre (que a mí me ha parecido innecesaria, debo decir) es buen ejemplo.

La novela termina en la página 246. A partir de ahí comienza una miniserie, la del activista Rodríguez, guerrero del antifascismo, héroe del grotesco en el "humor" político. Ya a esa altura el lector que soy se había dado por satisfecho.

[Danica B · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really liked it, stuck with me & would recommend

Worm tells a story of a boyhood in the midst of the Cold War in Cuba, a family’s harrowing escape and displacement in exile, and their tenacious longing for those they left behind. It also recounts the coming-of-age of an artist and activist, who, witnessing American’s turn from democracy to extremism, struggles to differentiate his adoptive country from the dictatorship he fled. Confronting questions of patriotism and the liminal nature of belonging, Edel Rodriguez ultimately celebrates the immigrants, maligned and overlooked, who guard and invigorate American freedom.

This autobiographical family saga was well written and even better illustrated. The artwork is stunning in its tritone color scheme, line and brush work, and it's ability to add to the emotionality of the panels. The intensity leaps off the page both with the words and the drawings. I knew clearly the flow of information, who was speaking, and the lettering was easy to read.

I enjoyed this book throughout and feel like immigrant stories like this one need to be celebrated and amplified. This is as much a story about Cuban history as it is about the American tapestry and what freedom truly means.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company, NetGalley, and author Edel Rodriguez for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review. Worm is out November 7, 2022.

[Kathy (Bermudaonion) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edel Rodriguez was born in Cuba and immigrated to the US. His family lived in Florida and through grit and determination, he went to college in New York City. After college, he’s made his living as an illustrator specializing in political commentary,

I’ve seen Rodriguez’s work but didn’t know his name before I picked up his graphic memoir, WORM. Rodriguez’s story begins during the Cuban Revolution and ends during the 2016 US Presidential election. I learned about the Cuban Revolution and also what it’s like to make a life in a new country. He says, “To an immigrant like me, America is a dream, a land of freedom and opportunity where one can work and express oneself without fear of violence or political persecution.” I thought this book was engaging, thoughtful, and moving. It’s a fabulous book for teens and adults.

[vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a special story. Edel Rodriguez escaped Fidel Castro's communist regime during the El Mariel Boatlift in 1980. His family moved to South Florida in an area I'm very much familiar with (Hialeah) and I loved learning more about his experience there. The prose is very much his internal thoughts and his family's struggle, depicting the myriad of ways they tried to exist in the system and how difficult it was to get out. The last fourth of the book turns to Rodriguez finding his way as an artist, getting into college in New York. He speaks about his pointed anti-Trump covers for Time Magazine (which I totally recognized and had no idea he was behind them). There are great conversations here if you enjoy graphic memoirs, immigrant stories, and discussions of authoritarian rule and nationalism turned fascism.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worm by Edel Rodriguez is a graphic novel about growing up in Cuba in the 1970's. The book begins with a history of the insurrection and history on Edel's family. Each chapter covers a different element of Edel's childhood with descriptive images and dialogue. I learned a lot about Cuba and the experience of growing up there and really enjoyed the book.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Metropolitan Books for the advance reader copy of the manuscript in exchange for an honest review. The copy that I received only contained the first 110 pages. I look forward to reading the entire book when it is published.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This made me cry. I think that the story, images, and characters are all really well done, and I think that he captures the eyes of a child while still allowing his main character to grow up over the series and looking back with a clear mind.

[Mayita Baumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUCH AN FANTASTIC EYEOPENING BOOK. Everything about this book, the art style, the heart of the story, the personal perspective, all of it and more is absolute perfection.

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shocking and incredible, I was on pins and needles the whole time… the final chapters comparing fascism in America to Castro’s regime was such a gut punch.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worm provides a detailed look at rural life in communist Cuba, leading up to the Muriel boatlift and a refugee existence in America (later marked by a successful graphic art career). Edel Rodriguez does a stellar job of digging into the details, so much so that you feel the grit and grime of poverty, not to mention the overwhelming sensation of being watched. Worm is a tough read (and a long one for a graphic memoir), but totally worth it to better understand just why Cubans were so desperate to leave their country (and why anyone who told you that communist Cuba had it better than America was a liar).

Worm is very much one of those books that you want to press into any Republican's hands so that maybe, just maybe they can understand who refugees are, where they come from, and what they actually do when they get to America. Rodriguez devotes a large section of Worm to his prominent artworks excoriating the first Trump administration's brushes with dictatorship and fascism. While factually accurate and as engaging as the rest of the book, it adds a heavy-handed element to what would have otherwise been a ringing endorsement of refugee assistance.

[Katherine Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I've been a radical activist all my life, as well as highly skeptical, at the same time, of the "utopias" touted by many leftists. Frankly, I'm pragmatically skeptical of most human systems. I'm very, very displeased with capitalism as practiced in America. So I've never been convinced about Cuba. But I also believe deeply that so long as genocide is not a tool of a state, it's not America's job to intervene in the affairs of other countries.

This graphic novel confirms my general point of view, about Cuba, but also about the current state of affairs here. The author's clearly related experience validates his current assessment of our democracy. I won't spoil anything by discussing the two huge reveals about this man and his family history, you really need to live it through the structure of his tale.

But I assure you, this book provides the opportunity to deepen your understanding of our current Constitutional crisis.

[Elisa Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting graphic autobiography of the author’s childhood in Cuba, he & his family’s flight during the Mariel boatlift to Miami, his subsequent experiences in the US, his take on Trump, and concluding with a return visit as an adult back to Cuba. A fast read of about three hours. While the author writes & illustrates the suffering of the Cuban population under Fidel’s regime, he does not include any discussion the repressive US embargo effects upon Cuba’s economy & population. He parallels Trump’s authoritarian first term with what he illustrates as totalitarian control of the Cuban government upon the population. The promised ideals of the Cuban Revolution failed just as the promises of American democracy now disappear.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a powerful graphic novel. Having been to Cuba in 2003 before the embargo was lifted, I’ve had a passion for this country and its intense history. Seeing Rodriquez’s art and the parallels he makes in the end between Castro and Trump was incredibly powerful. Highly recommend!

[Bridgett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both deeply emotional and incredibly informative

[Mathieu Pln-Lmrr · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'aurais besoin d'une sixième étoile pour noter celui-là

[Nilsa Pacheco · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is so much to learn from this book. Written with remarkable honesty and bravery. You are a master of truth Edel Rodriguez, thank you for representing Cuban refugees as brilliantly as you have.

[Ami Beyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really didn't know much about this book. I checked it out from the library based on vibes!

MY GOD! I regret only having 5 stars to give. If you too struggle with understanding the immigration experience (the experiences and motivational in leaving and the process and life here in America), this is a GREAT and digestible read.

As a privileged American, I had no idea about how Cuba was to live in. This books is SOOOO well written and art is top tier!

There will be parts of this story that will live with me for a long long time.

[Brian Lavery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite graphic novel I've read this year. I don't usually like memoirs, but this one incorporates a lot of history and context to his story, making it a lot more meaningful to read.

[Isaac French · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustration and tone melded together a politically driven but ultimately a human story of a Cuban family. Edel’s story and illustrations were beautifully written and added so much. I was skeptical of an illustrated memoir but it really made it feel like you were experiencing what he did. Overall amazing and a page turner

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read.