Havana, 1957. On the same day that the Mafia capo Umberto Anastasia is assassinated in a barber's chair in New York, a hippopotamus escapes from the Havana zoo and is shot and killed by its pursuers. Assigned to cover the zoo story, Joaquín Porrata, a young Cuban journalist, instead finds himself embroiled in the mysterious connections between the hippo's death and the mobster's when a secretive zookeeper whispers to him that he "knows too much." In exchange for a promise to introduce the keeper to his idol, the film star George Raft, now the host of the Capri Casino, Joaquín gets information that ensnares him in an ever-thickening plot of murder, mobsters, and, finally, love. The love story is, of course, another mystery. Told by Yolanda, a beautiful ex-circus performer now working for the famed cabaret San Souci, it interleaves through Joaquín's underworld investigations, eventually revealing a family secret deeper even than Havana's brilliantly evoked enigmas. In Dancing to "Almendra," Mayra Montero has created an ardent and thrilling tale of innocence lost, of Havana's secret world that is "the basis for the clamor of the city," and of the end of a violent era of fantastic characters and extravagant crimes. Based on the true history of a bewitching city and its denizens, Almendra is the latest "triumph" (Library Journal) from one of Latin America's most impassioned and intoxicating voices.

Just not in the mood for this right now, but I hope to come back to it later. ( )

5.6.08
Alternating stories of a young journalist investigating the organized crime activity in gambling in 1950's Havana and the confessions of his girlfriend, a one-armed former circus performer. Strange and bloody tale and I found it hard to care about the characters, although the Cuban atmosphere was authentic and rich. You could almost hear the danzon music. ( )

hard boil detective speelt zich af in Cuba met liefdesverhaal er doorheen met eenarmige vrouw. Hou niet van hard boiled detectives ( )

Very enjoyable mix of mobsters, romance, magicians and the press set in pre-Castro Cuba. Small time journalist Joaquin Porrata hopes to make it into the big leagues when he discovers a connection between the killing of a hippopotamus in the Havana Zoo and the murder of Mafiosi Umberto Anastasia in a New York barber shop. Real-life mobsters and film star George Raft mix with the range of colorful characters in the novel, such as Poratta's one-armed girlfriend. The novel gives an entertaining look at Havana as Poratta finds himself getting in far deeper than he can imagine and the coming revolution gains momentum in the background to the story. ( )