I chose to not finish this book. While it is well written and captures its subject well, part of that subject -- sexual encounters -- is something I prefer not to read. At least not with the frequency that it happens in this book. That said, this book would not be qualified even as soft porn. There were, for my tastes, just too many encounters described at more detail than I preferred to experience.
As I read the portion of the book that I did read, maybe a little more than 1/2 of it, I enjoyed the pictures it paints of its main characters, their dreams and their daily lives as they struggle to fulfill those dreams. Set in the US at the time when Latin music was in its hey day, the Mambo Kings participate in that scene, even to the point of having an opportunity to meet the great Desi Arnaz. Did this book deserve the Pulitzer Prize? The writing is enchanting and does pull one into the story. But for those who, like me, prefer to avoid that which impelled me to put the book down without finishing it with no pan to try again, I offer this brief review.
No comments:
Post a Comment