The Cigar Maker

by Mark McGinty

The Cigar City. The year is 1898. Young Cuban rebel Salvador Ortiz and his family have escaped the hardship of war-torn Cuba, but the union halls, cigar factories, and dark alleys of Tampa are filled with violence and vendetta. Salvador must defy constant labor strife and deadly corruption in a one-industry town known for backroom cockfights, street thugs, late-night abductions and mass production of the world's best hand-rolled stogies. An ideological battle for control of the cigar industry tests Salvador's self-respect and love of hard work as he fights to abandon his rambunctious, outlaw past and lead his proud Cuban family into a colorful immigrant society. His wish for a peaceful life as a husband, a father, and a man of dignity is threatened by a lawless underworld and a cultural conflict with a dangerous, bloody history.

The Cigar Maker won the following awards:
*Bronze Medal, IPPY Awards 2010
*Finalist: Book of the Year Awards, Historical Fiction, 2010
*Honorable Mention General Fiction: London Book Festival, 2010
*Honorable Mention General Fiction: DIY Convention, 2011
*Honorable Mention General Fiction: New England Book Festival, 2010

Genres: Historical Fiction

464 pages, Paperback

First published April 17, 2010

About the author

Mark Carlos McGinty is a descendant of Cuban cigar makers whose work has appeared in Maybourne Magazine, Montage Magazine, Cigar City Magazine, Germ Warfare and La Gaceta. His second novel "The Cigar Maker" won a Bronze Medal at the 2011 Independant Publisher Book Awards and was named Finalist at both the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards and the 2011 National Indie Excellence Awards.


He graduated from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida and got his Master’s degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati. Mark lives in Minneapolis with his wife and daughter.

Mark welcomes your comments and feedback. Email him at mmcginty_32@yahoo.com

Reviews

[Rick-Founder JM CM BOOK CLUB · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most wonderful things about books is that they, in the right hands, can be veritable time machines. A talented writer can create a novel that transports his/her reader back to a previous time in a very real way. Mark McGinty is such a fine writer. The Cigar Maker is a rare book- one that engulfs the reader in the life of Salvador Ortiz and 1898 Tampa. The characterizations, locales and events are spot on. Without giving away any of the edge of your seat moments (and there are many). McGinty has painted a whole picture of not only a time, but more remarkably, a life as it was lived over 100 years ago. As I turned the final page of THE CIGAR MAKER, I did so with reluctance, as I really wanted to spend even more time in the world of adventure, deceit, love and lies that McGinty has so skillfully created. For those who love thrillers and for those who love historical novels, this is a winner. And if that is not enough, one also gets a facinating history lesson on the cigar making industry just as the Century was changing. Mark McGinty is an Author to watch..and more important, to read!

Rick Friedman
Founder
THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB

[Celia · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the joys of reading historical novels is that the reader is afforded the opportunity to open a window into another dimension, to venture into places, people and events – and as nearly as possible and given a writer of sufficient skill and imagination – to explore and experience them at first hand. There is even a bonus, when the author like Mark McGinty takes up the story of his ancestors, weaving together the many threads of the vibrant and lively community they lived in: the Cuban community of Ybor City – now part of Tampa, Florida - at the turn of the last century. In basing a story on actual recorded historical incidents and real people, the reader is blessed with a narrative more incredible and fantastic than anything a writer could create of whole cloth – such as the incident that opens the story. Did it really happen, the loosing bird in a cockfight in Ybor City, eleven decades ago, having it’s head bitten off by it’s humiliated owner? The writer’s grandfather insisted that it did – and thereby opens the tale, of Salvador Ortiz, one-time rebel and bandit, and his fiercely proud and independent wife Olympia. Salvador is now a cigar maker, a man with a particular and valuable skill – but Cuba is torn by war and ravaged by epidemics. For the sake of their children, they move to Florida; not quite an out of the pot and into the cook-fire move, but not without perils and dangers. At first Ybor City is a safe refuge for the Ortiz family – an escape from violence and famine and disease. Alas, they have exchanged one set of challenges and risks for another only slightly less challenging. In the next few years, Ybor City and the cigar-making industry will be racked by strikes and violent confrontations between the cigar workers, the factory owners and the Anglo establishment. Salvador Ortiz – a modest man of flinty integrity, soft-spoken and yet capable of decisive action when the necessity calls for it– will almost by accident become a leader among his coworkers. He struck me as a reader, as being the most fully-developed character, the moral center of a world filled with either well-intentioned characters without the courage to act on their good intentions, or amoral barbarians all too eager to act on their bad ones. Salvador is an immensely appealing character, not least to his wife, Olympia; the daughter of an aristocrat who nonetheless saw something worthy in a man several degrees lower than she on the social scale.
The working-class Cuban émigré world of Ybor City, in the first years of the 20th century is lovingly detailed; the vigorous personalities, customs and conversation, the foods and festivals, the work-day world of the cigar factories, and the recreations – cockfights and bolita games being only a small part of the entertainments brought by the Cuban cigar workers. I had never realized that there was a substantial Cuban community in Florida that early on; I had assumed that Castro’s Revolution was largely responsible for the current Cuban Diaspora. For a window into an unexpected and fascinating world – the Cigar Maker is recommended.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story line was well constructed and kept me interested throughout. This is a fascinating period of American/Cuban history which I knew nothing about.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

As author Mark McGinty notes in the acknowledgments of his second novel, The Cigar Maker owes a stylistic debt to influences ranging from such literary luminaries as James Ellroy, Mario Puzo, and William Shakespeare to such epic film trilogies as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Lord of the Rings. Indeed, “epic” is perhaps the best word to describe this dense and moving novel, for it has both the multigenerational sweep of works like John Steinbeck’s East of Eden and the social awareness of John Dos Passos’ USA Trilogy. All of this is to say that for his sophomore literary outing, McGinty has done nothing short of producing the great American novel.

Part of what makes The Cigar Maker both “great” and “American” is that the novel is steeped in the immigrant experience. Shortly after the sinking of the USS Maine, a young father named Salvador Ortiz moves his family from Cuba to the United States and goes to work making a living for himself as a cigar maker. The Florida city in which he finds himself, moreover, is a hotbed of political and criminal industry, and it isn’t long before Ortiz — who wants nothing more than to provide for his wife and children — becomes embroiled in the the town’s machinations. In this regard, The Cigar Maker also reads like a literary version of Martin Scorcese’s Gangs of New York with a Cuban flare. That is, it’s a historical tale of class struggle with a distinctly humane focus in that the story of the Ortiz family mirrors not only the story of American workers but the story of America itself.

None of this, of course, is to say that The Cigar Maker presents an overly rosy picture of the American dream. Ortiz struggles daily just to get by, and he endures more setbacks than triumphs throughout the novel. Yet he never gives up, and keeps fighting for the greater good because, more than anything, he is a man of great conscience — a rarity, perhaps, in the current postmodern literary landscape, but a breath of fresh air as well.

Though The Cigar Maker is largely a historical novel, the issues it touches upon are as relevant today as they were a century ago: labor relations, immigration, and the nation’s involvement in foreign wars chief among them. What’s especially striking about The Cigar Maker, however, is that it doesn’t treat these issues as discrete phenomena; rather, it explores the interconnectedness of all three. In so doing, the novel reminds us that although we are all in many ways beholden to the vast machinery of forces beyond our control, we are all, nonetheless, creatures of conscience and are all, thus, responsible for doing what we can to shape the world into the place we want it to be.

Painstakingly researched and lovingly crafted, The Cigar Maker is a serious and significant novel about the American experience. The writing is beautiful, the characters lively, and the settings awash with visceral historical detail. An excellent book on all counts.

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book from Goodreads (Firstreads)so I want to get it read and reviewed. I am about 1/3 of the way through. So far it is a very colorful book about Cubans lives mainly in Florida around the turn of the century. It is a good summer read, though not really a "can't put it down page turner". It definitely has your good guys and bad guys, though not everyone on both sides is without fault. I'm hoping the "really " good guy, the main character, doesn't get involved with the extremism surrounding the cigar makers unions. It reads easily, but is longish, good for a long vacation.
I have finished the book. I would probably give it a 3 1/2. Apparently a lot of the things in the book really happened, though not to the fictional characters. Some things were made up. It deals mainly with the Cuban Cigar makers who had moved to Florida, their unions and plant owners near the end of the 1800s. It goes into the hardships the workers faced (though not as bad as starving in Cuba)and the need for unions, but also the extemist views of some of the idealogues of that time. It follows a family who moved to Florida from Cuba and goes into some of their history in Cuba. It might make an Ok movie. I wouldn't mind trying something else by this author.

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a man named Salvidor Ortiz who is a cigar maker. He is a poor man who finds happiness with a woman who is kidnapped by his gang of insurgents in Cuba. The gang's leader rapes her and she becomes pregnant. Her father believes that their aristocratic blood is tainted and tries to have her abort the child by serving her a tea laced with a plant that will induce abortion. He almost loses his daughter but the doctor save both her and the child, a girl. Even after the birth her father denies his grand daughter. The daughter runs away in the arms of Salvidor and asks him to kidnap her and they sail to the U.S. He falls in love with this beautiful headstrong young woman and marries her. The story continues as Salvidor, an expert cigar maker, goes through a life filled with disputes with management and raises three strong willed, independent sons and the daughter he takes as his own. While there are fictionalized portion, much of the story is based on stories the author heard from his grandfather. It's a heart-warming wonderful read. If you like historical fiction, this may be a read for you.

[Nanci Arvizu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short newspaper story from the history of Ybor City, Florida was all the spark Mark Carlos McGinty needed to spur his imagination into weaving The Cigar Maker. His fictional tale of colorful characters that make their way through the turbulent times of Spanish occupancy in Cuba to the cigar factories in Florida brings to light the fight and strength of immigrants who will take on anything in the pursuit of a better life.
The many hours of research Mr. McGinty invested into creating this story pay off as he takes the reader into the streets, factories and lives of the Cuban cigar worker. Life in the humid climate of Florida surrounded by poverty, crime and violence, and at the same time, art, beauty and destiny.
An amazing story that brings to life a small and almost forgotten piece of history, The Cigar Maker will captivate you.

[Laura (booksnob) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Salvador had been in Ybor City less than one day when he saw a man bite the head off a live rooster." The first sentence of The Cigar Maker quickly grabs your attention and doesn't let go.

Travel through time and place with Salvador Ortiz as he fights Spain for independence in Cuba, finds the love of his life, moves his family to Ybor City in Tampa, makes fine cigars at a Cigar Factory, Joins La Resistencia, goes on strike, is kidnapped to Honduras, all under the backdrop of the turn of the 20th century. What an adventure in reading!

To read the full review, please check out book blog at http://www.booksnob-booksnob.blogspot...

[Julie S · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cigar Maker is a wonderful historical fiction novel that captivates your heart and mind. I laughed out loud, cried and was so deeply immersed in it that my husband had a hard time getting me to concentrate on something else. McGinty's vivid descriptions bring you back to Ybor City at the turn of the century and he shares the struggles of the cigar makers. You don't need to know anything about the cigar industry to get hooked. The characters are carefully crafted, and McGinty allows you to see into their minds and personal struggles and brings resolution to their personal stories. This is a must read!

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartfelt story about a strong Cuban family. It takes place in Tampa, Florida and tells the story of the struggle of the Cuban cigar workers and how they fought for unionized rights. The characters are likable and I felt myself cheering for their triumphs and sad for their suffering. Based on true events, very interesting to read about why and how the Cubans immigrated to Tampa and how they helped form the culture in that city. I Ioved the description of how to smoke a good Cuban cigar, brought me back to my childhood, I could almost smell my Dad's cigar.

[Ami Peruzzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I have always enjoyed learning about other cultures and how various people immigrated to the US. In this book, although fiction, I found myself deep in the Cuban culture the smells, the food and the imagery were great. The trials and tribulations of the Otiz family kept me engaged until the end. The book is long but well written so if you are up for an adventure and learning about the Cuban culture and great cigars this is the boom for you.

[Lindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book first and foremost because I am an acquaintance of the author. I think it speaks volumes that I kept forgetting that fact as I read the book. Both my husband (who isn't much of a reader) and I found it hard to put it down. I especially loved that it covered a chapter in history that I hadn't ever known about. A truly engaging book.

[Mick Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my review, posted at http://www.thesmokingpoet.com/id12.html.

[Roxi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read and hard to put down. And it was extra fun knowing the local author, Mr. Mark McGinty!

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. Character driven, historical and very informative. Really good story

[Rick Goldsmith · Rating 5 out of 5]

all time favorite historical novel

[DeHoyos Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it was a bit slow at times, it was ultimately a good story about an interesting period of time. Cigar aficionados would approve.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book read for a book club. Life in Tampa and Ybor City for Cuban's who moved here for a better life, since their country was overrun and oppressed by Spain. The story was interesting; the plight of the Cuban cigar makers and about how big business and capitalism affected the craft and the workers. I found the writing style to be a little choppy, but the story line was easy to follow. Not a hard read, although some of the characters could have been better written.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

engaging characters, offering different looks into labor relations in the early 20th century as well as life in Cuba and Florida for those trying to survive both in America and in the cigar trade.
Some predictable events and sterotypes but all in all fast paced and hard to put down.
The "jungle" chapters just jumped out - like the reader was dumped on the beach along with the dissidents.