Learning To Die In Miami : Confessions Of A Refugee Boy
by Carlos Eire

Why did I bother to slog through 300 pages and skip the last four of a totally disappointing book? Perhaps I thought it would, marginally, get better? I should have stopped halfway through the mess.
A few years ago, Carlos Eire wrote Waiting for Snow in Havana which was so beautifully written and had such gorgeous imagery. In that book, he wrote about growing up in Cuba before Castro's revolution and then being airlifted out of the country.
Learning to Die in Miami is supposed to be a continuation of what happens to Carlos when he lands in America and learns to adjust.
The book certainly started out ok but then started to deteriorate. As soon as I saw his first metaphor (they're excessive), I should have stopped reading. He jumps around from past to future incessantly and after a while that becomes quite irritating.
Eire's style of writing changed from his first book and it's pretty dismal.
Not recommended.