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"Epic is perhaps the best word to describe this dense and moving novel."

"5 Stars. Highly Recommended."

-Midwest Book Review 7/8/10

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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.

         
 

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Listen as Mark discusses "The Cigar Maker" on Page Readers with Nanci Arvizu

The Latest

Chapter 1 was published in the July 2
issue of La Gaceta, the nation's only
trilingual newspaper.

Chapter 6 was recently published in
Tampa's Cigar City Magazine. You can
check it out here (starts at p. 28).

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   Check out some Cigar Maker merchandise from Spatterbrains.