More reviews are on the way from Cigar Aficionado, The Smoking Poet and Cigar Advisor. Until then, check out the great reviews The Cigar Maker has been getting....!
"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." -Nanci Arvizu, Page Readers
"I was having a hard time putting it down."
-Cigar Inspector
"5 stars. The Cigar Maker is a fine read. Highly recommended." -Midwest Book Review
"There are desperados, kidnappings, cane fields set afire, riots, arson, stabbings, strikes, mercy killings, and desperate treks through tropical jungles. Through it all, Salvador is a modern day Odysseus."
“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."
A nice review from Celia Hayes at Blogger News Network.
"In basing the 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."
Local legend and Emmy Award winning writer Steve Marsh said:
"The Cigar Maker is a saga, a buddy picture with escapes on horseback and union riots and illegitimate children and even some illegal cockfighting. Despite being set in a time and place you've never been before--Tampa's Ybor City in 1899--you'll recognize sweet notes of George Lucas and dusky Mario Puzo undertones. But one thing is certain: Mark C. McGinty rolls his own."
A great blurb fromJuddSpicer, veteran Twin Cities writer and author ofSeven Days. "McGinty's story burns with the steady pace and smooth flavor of a Cohiba Siglo VI. His hand-rolled Cigar Maker bands an impressive blend of history and character in this unique window to America's past."
Rodney-Kite Powell, Saunders Foundation Curator of History at the Tampa Bay History Center had this to say:
"Equal parts history and fiction The Cigar Maker captures the true spirit of Ybor City. You can practically hear the crowds, smell the tobacco and taste the cafe con leche." Some kind words from Kevin Cannon at Big Time Attic:
"I couldn't put the thing down -- it runs at a fast clip, expertly blending pulp adventure with a thoughtful portrait of turn of the century Cuba and Florida."
“From the mountains of 19th century Cuba, where bandits and revolutionaries fought to overthrow Spanish dominance, to the floors of the cigar factories in Ybor City, Florida, where labor leaders sought to defend Cuban workers from exploitation by Spanish business owners, The Cigar Maker delivers a riveting, little-known chapter in the history of Latino-Americans in the US southeast.”
-Dianne K. Salerni, author of We Hear the Dead, SourceBooks
2010 Seventh Avenue Productions ** 3353 Polk St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418 ** For comments, suggestions or to report a broken link, email mmcginty_32@yahoo.com
