Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub |
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Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub
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by Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox
Sales Rank: 485788
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$26.00
At Amazon
on 6-20-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 448 pages
Published by: Harcourt October 3, 2005
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0151012245
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0151012244
Book Dimensions:
9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
Weighs: 1.6 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
Tropicana opened in 1939 at Villa Mina, a six-acre suburban Havana estate with lush tropical gardens. It's still going strong, after a number of setbacks, not the least of which was Fidel Castro's squelching of nightlife and other social outlets. After Martin Fox took over in 1950, choreographer Roderico "Rodney" Neyra staged spectacular shows in the club's newly constructed Arcos de Cristal, parabolic concrete arches and glass walls soaring over an indoor stage. Headliners included Josephine Baker, Nat King Cole, Celia Cruz, Xavier Cugat and Carmen Miranda; and celebrity visitors ranged from Brando and Durante to Hemingway and Piaf. Tracing the evolution of this "paradise under the stars" against the backdrop of Cuban culture, politics in pre-Castro Cuba and mob connections, journalist Lowinger (Latina) interweaves the personal stories of Fox and his widow, playwright-teacher Ofelia Fox, who recalls, "It was a life set to music. What could be better?" The superb talents of Cuban music's Golden Age were resurrected in the Oscar-nominated film Buena Vista Social Club (1998), but Lowinger's scintillating chronicle offers an overview—not found in that film—of the florid, splashy era when "Cuba was an endless party, and Tropicana was its epicenter." Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Lowinger and Fox tell the story of Havana's notorious Tropicana nightclub, the template from which Las Vegas was made after the corrupt Batista regime collapsed, and the Tropicana was closed. In its day the Tropicana was a prime site for gambling, elegance, seeing and being seen--a resort of choice for international gangsters and jet-setters. Readers who enjoyed Anthony Haden-Guest's "biography" of Studio 54, The Last Party (1997), will enjoy comparing the differing modes of showmanship, decadence, and ostentation current in the Tropicana's 1950s heyday to those of 1970s New York's debauched disco scene. Fox married Tropicana owner Martin Fox in 1952 and helped him run it until 1962, when they decamped to Miami. She and Lowinger take pains to establish that the Tropicana was hardly a sleazy Mob hangout but rather a world-class entertainment venue that discriminating gangsters happened to enjoy frequenting. An great resource on Cuban popular culture, lavish entertainment, and everyday life just before and just after Castro, this is also an exciting and rewarding read. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Reader Reviews
Rosita Lowinger brings Cuba in the '40s and '50s to vibrant life in this excellent book. Anybody interested in learning about the island of Cuba should read it, because it's chock-full of historical facts. In addition, you learn all about the politics, the music, the cabaret circuit, the culture, even the Mafia connections! Rosita is an excellent writer who puts lots of "sabor" in her prose. I hope she's working on the screeplay right now. You cannot put the damn book down! It's easily the best I've read all year.
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Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub
Available from Amazon
Price: $26.00
Updated on 6-20-2008.
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