Customer Reviews

Long After Midnight at the Niño Bien: A Yanqui’s Missteps in Argentina

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Books and blogs by women about their tango experiences/epiphanies in Buenos Aires proliferate yearly. (OK, so I'm one of those women.)

It's refreshing to read a story about a foreigner in Buenos Aires written by a man. Sure, we've had the cheap and disgusting Kiss and Tango by Marina Palmer, and the interesting pre-crisis Bad Times in Buenos Aires by Miranda France, among many others, but now we have something entirely different: Brian Winter's Long After Midnight at the Nino Bien; a Yanqui's Missteps in Argentina.

Not a memoir, but rather a well-written attempt to make 21st century readers understand the why-and-wherefores of the Buenos Aires of today. It's not an excuse for the author to delve into his emotional past, or to write about sexual encounters, nor does he do any reflection--the main aspect of a memoir. It's an impressionistic travelogue with fantasy characters--think Wizard of Oz or Star Wars set in South America with lots of illuminating and witty historical citations.

Young Mr. Winter (a recent college grad who floats to Argentina hoping to find a job) also writes about his experience as a tango dancer wannabe. He relates preposterous scenes with fictitious milongueros, but I believe these scenes, while accurately conveying feelings and emotions if not truths, are not from his experience but from research and imagination. He is a fantastic researcher, as well as a hell of a writer. And he's funny, too!

He wanted to write an essay about Buenos Aires, and how then could he leave out tango, even if he knew nothing and cared less about it? His Mafia round table of wise old milongueros allow for exposition and stories about Argentina's history, the influence of the gauchos, the corruption of the politicians, the legacy of Peron and Evita. Miller quotes tangos and the gaucho poem, Martin Fierro. He quotes and relates and integrates, all with humor and a great turn of phrase, and it makes for enjoyable reading, and a history lesson too.

But I do know about the milongas, the milongueros, and certainly, about Nino Bien, the "decaying bar" of the title. His stories of cartoon characters like El Nene, El Dandi, El Chino 1 & 2, and El Tigre entertain and maybe enlighten. Certainly it's not the habit of real milongueros, or anyone else in a milonga, to drink frozen strawberry daiquiris at La Ideal or Nino Bien, let alone wear white terrycloth suits with orange shirts and pink scarves and lead ganchos and barridas. While he has the tango facts and details mostly all wrong, he nevertheless zeros in on the mood, effect and the result. The milonga is an easy target for satire.

Yes, there are countless factual errors in the tango telling, and lots of mistakes in Castellano and Buenos Aires geography, but from my fact checking on the internet, Miller's tales of political corruption, battles, presidents, and gauchos all seem to ring true. I especially enjoyed the story of the depressed tango lyricist Discepolo and his mis-alignment with the government, and his artistic crashes with the tango god himself, Carlos Gardel.

So let's not read this book as a personal memoir, or as history, but rather as a fable of life and times in Buenos Aires from 2000-2004 from a foreigner's perspective. Despite its flaws in accuracy, there's much to be learned here, as well as several laughs and a couple of hours of entertaining reading.

This book makes Argentina come alive with real people and lively dialogue. I've read a lot about Argentina's social, political and economic crises, but the country never really came together for me until I read this book. Argentina, like the tango, is a sad thought you can dance to. Of course, it's a foreigner's perspective, but a fresh one from a young man who jumped into the whirl of Argentine life without preconceptions and writes about it with a refreshing honesty and lack of pretense.

This guy can write and he really captures the Fellini like quality of BsAs and its tango sub-culture. This book really had me laughing. If you're going to Argentina, and/or a tango addict, I highly recommend this book. What makes this "memoir" different from others is the writer's ability to vividly capture other people, and not just talk about what's going on in his head. Great read.

I read this book while on vacation in Buenos Aires and could not put it down. It is well written, with reflections on Argentinas history blended nicely with the author's own experiences. Some reviews have indicated he falls short in understanding Argentina beyond cliche, which may be true, but as a Yanqui, first-timer in Buenos Aires, my understanding could only be deepened. So, if you come here knowing nothing, as I did, I think you will really enjoy this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's much better better written than "Kiss and Tango" (Winter was a journalist for Reuters,) the other tango memoir that I've read which I also enjoyed. He spends lots of time drinking with old milongueros at the milongas, discussing with them his struggle to get the hang of tango, and at the same time records how the Argentine economy went down in flames while he was there (2000 to 2004.) I found it very affecting, and did not want it to end. Peter Silverman

The author has talent and knows how to write. However, he does not manage to go even a little bit beyond the usual stereotypes about Argentina. It may have been too easy for him to fall to the temptation of using the same template over and over again when he was working for Reuters during those years when the Argentinian economy collapsed, and the world showed a sudden, albeit passing, interest in that country's fate: this book is just that same template more elaborated and expanded. Although the author seems to be a perceptive young man and seems to have spent some effort researching the country's history, he wasn't able to come up with an understanding beyond the cliche. That's at least my humble opinion, having spent 25 years of my life in that country. I still give this book three stars because it's entertaining and it taught me a couple of things about Discepolo and the tango.

LONG AFTER MIDNIGHT AT THE NINO BIEN: A YANQUI'S MISSTEPS IN ARGENTINA tells of an American who decides on a whim to move to Argentina and learn to tango - his quest to shine in the tango hall with a group of elderly men who move like Enrique Iglesias and his quest to understand the tango leads to a deeper cultural appreciation of Argentina as a whole: an appreciation which comes to life in a book highly recommended for a range of collections: those surveying international dance in general, tango in particular, or Latin American or Argentinean culture as a whole.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

As a tango obsessive, with over 200 CDs, over 70 DVDs, and about 40 books; and a milonga visitor at least twice weekly, it takes something 'special' in tango to put me off tango. It takes something very rare to put me to sleep. This is it! It's slow, sleepy and, albeit a great cure for insomnia, it's not tango. Well, you see, it's not exciting, passionate, riské, nor sensitive, neither is it, I felt, very good literature. In fact I feel I wasted my time on this book. I would recommend the reader of this review reads instead, either "The Tango Singer", by Thomas Elloy Martinez, or, "Paper Tangos" by Julie Taylor. Even Larry Sawyer's erotic tango tales have more life than this Hemingway-wannabe. If you want real life tango tales, read "Tango: Lessons for Life", by Jeannette Potts, or, the even better "The Tao of Tango, by Johanna Siegmann, instead. For a fuller list of alternative tango books available on Amazon copy and paste this list address into your browser URL:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tango-my-Argentine-Tango-books-my-Tango-Argentino-shelf/lm/R3TEM7F4UB45V3/ref=cm_srch_res_rpli_alt_1

Brian writes a novel in an easy to read, flowing style. The book is well researched. The information is presented as part of the context of an exciting story
The period covered is 2000 to 2004 in Argentina during the financial crisis. This is recounted first hand. What separates this book about tango in Buenos Aires from the rest is its entertainment value as a novel. The way in which the author gives depth to the meaning of tango is not by lecturing, but by allowing us to witness the views and actions of the various protagonists.

Brian Winters' story is all tango even in his description of the history and culture of Argentina. To those who dance the tango you will see it in a new way. His characterizations and experiences are wonderful reading. I found it a quick and easy read and am recommending it to all my dancer friends. He uses a lot of wit, some of which you have to be an experienced dancer to enjoy.

Like Winters I came to tango "through the back door" without a formal plan and could not help myself. I am glad I discovered this book. I recommend it for everyone who loves the Argentine Tango...even if you have not been to Bs. As.

JCH