After eleven years living, dancing, teaching tango, and writing in Buenos Aires, I came home to L.A. in 2014, where I'm reconstructing my life.

Friday, March 20, 2009

The Buenos Aires Broken Hearts Club

Who doesn't buy a book from time to time because of the cover, or as in this case, the title?

I'm human, and so I ordered The Buenos Aires Broken Hearts Club by Jessica Morrison, from Amazon. I sort of "collect" all novels of Buenos Aires and tango in English, well that was my excuse anyway.

And I got what I deserved.

The heroine, Cassie, is a 28 year old web producer from Seattle, who comes to Buenos Aires after a bad breakup to heal and find a new life (read: new man) as in reality so many women do or would like to do.

With a glibly written predictable plot, without graphic sex, it could be a "young adult" novel, although those tend to be of higher quality.

While set in Buenos Aires, with a few details changed the exact same story could take place in Rome or Mexico City or any other foreign metropolis. There are many errors in descriptions of the Buenos Aires background and Argentine culture and language. Of course there is the obligatory tango class at La Viruta and the drinking of mate. Otherwise why not Istanbul?

I got the impression the book was written by committee via long distance, and that the author is certainly not from the U.S. (Actually she's Canadian, and it shows in the book.)

OK, "beach read" and "chick lit," but not worth more than an hour, and certainly not during a flight to Buenos Aires!

6 comments:

Joli said...

I told you it was a load of crap! At least the Kiss and Tango author ventured outside of Palermo.

Anonymous said...

Haha, reading this I thought "Oh, maybe she should have read Holly's review beforehand!" ;)

tangocherie said...

Actually, I did, because I loaned Joli my copy of the book before I read it. And then I had to read it, you know? But I could have saved both of us a lot of time by not buying it in the first place!

I mean, books about foreign women on vacation meeting gorgeous sexy mysterious men with green eyes are everywhere!

Anonymous said...

While I love the prospect of meeting a gorgeous sexy mysterious man with green eyes while in a foreign country, I thought this book was stupid and immaturely written!

Joli said...

yeah, but some of those books are actually amusing. Sometimes you know it is just cheap brain fluff, and that is what you need. But when you read the cheap brain fluff and it isn´t even amusing, not one little chuckle comes out of it. I feel sorry for the trees who sacrificed their lives for this mierda!

n a n c y said...

Why do these 'memoirs' always start with: " I had too much to drink." ??