Jubana! The Awkwardly True and Dazzling Adventures of a Jewish Cubana Goddess.(Brief Article)(Book Review)

JUBANA! The Awkwardly True and Dazzling Adventures of a Jewish Cubana Goddess GIGI ANDERS. Rayo, $27.95 (304p) ISBN 0-06-056369-9

Castro's regime began in 1959, and Anders's family fled a year later, arriving in Maryland when Anders was a toddler. At this memoir's heart is Anders's relationship with her mother, Mami, whom the author alternately worships and scorns (leading to decades of therapy for Anders as an adult). Mami prepared Anders early for the life she should have: that of pampered wife. Standing over her infant's crib, Mami murmured, "'Tafetan color champdn.' "Anders writes, "It took about a year of hearing this bizarre mantra over and over before I …