Guilty of Dancing the ChaChaCha [Hardcover]

Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2001

An enduringly original literary presence, unquestionalby Cuba's most important living writer.--Alistar Reed, The New York Review of Books

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Infante, the Cuban ‚migr‚ whose literary brilliance has been showcased in such works as Three Trapped Tigers and Infante's Inferno, displays his trademark style and parodic wit in this collection of three short stories. But even diehard fans won't be kicking up their heels. Each story begins with a similar scene: the same man and woman have lunch in a Havana restaurant on a rainy Friday afternoon. Their relationship to one another and to their country are exposed through their thoughts and conversations, with the last story revealing the most about the collection's themes and the pontificating protagonist, who ogles every woman who enters the restaurant after his date leaves. The stories mirror each other by repeating characters, situations and themes, yet also continually broaden their reach. Infidelity and Fidel, disillusionment and faith, remembrance and new beginnings are fundamental themes that mark not only the stories but Cuba itself. Modulated by background music that progresses from Santer¡a ritual chants to Cuban boleros to the jazz-influenced chachach , the stories promise a minihistory of Cuban culture and politics. But the diverting premise is squandered: the male protagonist is a repellent character racist, sexist, homophobic and deeply smug. By the end of the book, his relentless puns become tedious. It's no wonder the woman walks off at the end of each tale. (July)Forecast: Infante received the Cervantes Award (a kind of Spanish Nobel Prize) and has been hailed as Cuba's greatest living writer, so some readers might pick this book up based on his reputation alone. But anyone unfamiliar with his work will pass on what finally amounts to an exercise in self-indulgence. And at only 112 pages, it's no bargain, either.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The three stories in this work, capably translated by the author, all begin with the same premise a man and a woman are dining in a Havana restaurant but from this setting different plots evolve. The first two ("The Great Ekb?" and "A Woman Saved from Drowning"), which are more traditionally structured, recall the minimalism of Hemingway. The eponymous third story is a fragment of Cuerpos divinos, a longtime "work in progress" that has yet to appear. The puns, incessant wordplay, and neologisms in this story characterize the style of the mature Cabrera Infante. The theme and variations gimmick and linguistic legerdemain capture the reader's interest, but stylistically these stories are not up to par with his masterpieces Three Trapped Tigers and Infante's Inferno. Recommended only because Cabrera Infante, a recent recipient of the prestigious Cervantes Award, is one of the most popular and original contemporary Latin American writers. Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib., Dublin, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Welcome Rain Publishers; 1 edition (November 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566491878
• ISBN-13: 978-1566491877
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,642,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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