Mambo Peligroso: A Novel

by Patricia Chao

When thirty-two-year-old Catalina Ortiz Midori walks into a shabby New York dance studio for her first mambo class, she has no idea that her life is about to change. Mesmerized by El Tuerto, the one-eyed teacher who smells of sandalwood and is a titan of the New York mambo scene, Catalina is also drawn to the dazzling technique of Wendy Cardoza, a Bronx mambera who is one of its reigning queens. Catalina is a Japanese-Cuban immigrant who has lost touch with her Cuban roots and finds it difficult to understand Spanish. Her apprenticeship with El Tuerto and Wendy, and her growing obsession with the world of mambo -- the music, the dancers, and the seductive dance itself -- will bring her back to her origins with a passion she didn't know she possessed. Mambo Peligroso carries the reader from New York to Miami and eventually to Cuba, where the music began. Along the way, Catalina inadvertently becomes involved, through her cousin Guillermo, in a sinister Miami exile scheme. Patricia Chao is the author of the highly praised novel Monkey King . In this new book, her second work of fiction, readers have a unique opportunity to enter an intriguing and exotic milieu and emerge with an insider's sense of the experience. With its vibrantly drawn characters -- and a narrative rhythm born of mambo itself, Mambo Peligroso is an irresistible read -- hot-blooded, fast-paced, and written with an intelligence and poetry that are the province of a magnificently gifted writer.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2005

Reviews

[Salsadancer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel centered around mambo dancers was interesting because it was an insider's view of people who have a passion for a dance. There are no starts here, just real people with real-life struggles. The book included an extensive discography of mambo music which Chao referred to as "the tip of the iceberg." It is the tip but a good place to start with classic mambo artists the likes of celia Cruz, willy Chirino, Willie Colon, Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri.

[Katie M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story about a woman who takes up mambo and her intense and complicated relationship with her charismatic teachers starts off pretty gripping but winds up going totally off the deep end. Still, interesting insight into the NYC Latin dance scene, which (having run in several different circles of people with all-consuming pastimes) I found both new and familiar.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Original and interesting. And man, did I ever want to learn the Mambo after reading this- the book pulsed with life and intrigue and some really hot moves :)

[Margaret · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I would have finished this if it wasn't for my book club. Poorly written with a lot of gratuitous sex.

[Paul]

Review at asianamlitfans.

[Tara Lindahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si te gustan libros con un sabor latino, pienso que este libro es muy bien. Hay bailando y peligro, por supuesto, pero tambien las personajes son interesante y un poco complicado.