In my previous post, I mentioned that I’d begun reading Kiss & Tango. I am only on page 56 (there are 327 pages to get through). I must say that while it’s just the “brainless fluff” I’m hoping for, it’s also mediocre.
Her writing style is very choppy and not fun to follow.
It’s kind of like when you accept a dance invitation but then once the music starts you can’t find a connection. This book is not giving me good tango.
I have issues with her grammar. I have trouble with some of her vulgarity (I find her use of the English language a little less than charming).
I really want to get through this book after reading so many mixed reviews, and I’ll try as hard as I can to get through a little more of it tomorrow, but I’m sorry - this book is just not holding my attention. I want to have an opinion of it, I really do. I can read the cheesiest of books and if it’s well-written, tell you what I liked or did not like.
I want to read this book front to back and tell you all how I feel about it, what I agree with and disagree with, but the fact is, Ms. Palmer is not a captivating writer at all. If she were, I’d be reading her book instead of writing in this blog - regardless of my opinions of her take on Buenos Aires, which so far are not in her favor either.
I don’t think I can finish this book. It’s boring.
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Books like hers are definitely junk food for me - I knew from the first page that it wasn’t exactly literature but got the book at time when I was still new to tango and was greedy for any personal stories involving tango.
Gave the book to my sister to help her fall asleep at night - seems to be working.
Tina, I was a hesitant to say anything. I read the whole book in order to know how to respond to people who were talking about it, some time ago.
I just disliked it (to put it mildly). Poor writing is one thing, but the attitude of ageism and concern with sexual conquest was really a problem for me. Tango is so much bigger. The problems that other cultures have with Americans…they are in part, due to people who think like that author.
Hum… you know, someone gave me the book as a present a while ago. It was a tanguera who had read it herself.
She said the following while giving it to me…
“look, it is crap… it is poorly written, and it also presents an image of the tango community that I don’t know if I like… it’s true that it’s probably out there, full of sex and shallowness, but I have troubles thinking that this book will convey to the whole world that this is what tango is about… because it is so much more, so much deeper, so much more spiritual, so much more about important things…”
Anyhow, she asked me if I wanted to take a look, and I took the copy… it’s been sitting in my shelf since last Thanksgiving, and for some reason (maybe because I’d rather read good stuff) I haven’t opened it yet. That said, I was (still am) curious to glance around the pages just to get the flavor…
Did you know that Sandra Bullock bought the rights for the movie? (I think Miss Tango posted on this???) So the whole story will come out… and I want to be prepared
I had a similar experience. I got it as a gift and was really turned off by the vulgar talk and just general banality of the whole thing.
We should each write two or three short essays about a tango experience and compile them into a book.
I meant to say that we should recruit other tanguera/os and compile an anthology of real stories from the tango trenches.
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