In winning the prestigious prize Mr. Eire joins the ranks of such notable writers as William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Tom Wolfe, David McCullough and poet Elizabeth Bishop. Yet, impressive as that may seem, the author's true joy in the award appears to be its potential for awakening the world to the horrors of Fidel's island slave plantation.

Mr. Eire's book has a universal human appeal as the inspiring story of gut-wrenching loss, tenacity and struggle and eventual redemption. Despite enormous tragedy, much humor and tenderness also make their way into his recollections.

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In his book-award acceptance speech, Mr. Eire remembered Cuba's political prisoners. "Had I written this book in my native land, I would be in prison. As we sit here enjoying this dinner, there is one country on earth, Cuba, which is dead set and has been dead set since 1959 on repressing thought, repressing expression. There is no freedom to write, there is no freedom to read."

The message was not unlike that contained in a Dec. 10 Human Rights Day letter addressed to the Cuban people and signed by such diverse political actors as Madeleine Albright, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Vaclav Havel and Mario Vargas Llosa. "We express solidarity with all brave men and women of Cuba still struggling for their inalienable rights and human dignity under the difficult conditions of an oppressive, totalitarian regime," the letter read.

Mr. Eire's speech drove the point home: "There are people in Cuba now in prisons that aren't even fit for animals. Their crime? Writing. There are actually several people who are in prison for establishing libraries. It is to these very, very brave men and women that I would like to dedicate this National Book Award, the people in prison who cannot speak their minds without paying the heaviest price of all. And may it not only snow in Havana some time soon, may they be able to speak freely once and for all."