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Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub
by Lowinger, Rosa; Fox, Ofelia | HC | Good
US $7.90
Approximately£5.82
Condition:
“Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, ”... Read moreAbout condition
Good
A book that has been read, but is in good condition. Minimal damage to the book cover eg. scuff marks, but no holes or tears. If this is a hard cover, the dust jacket may be missing. Binding has minimal wear. The majority of pages are undamaged with some creasing or tearing, and pencil underlining of text, but this is minimal. No highlighting of text, no writing in the margins, and no missing pages. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections.
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Located in: Aurora, Illinois, United States
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eBay item number:375973240861
Item specifics
- Condition
- Good
- Seller notes
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Weight
- 1 lbs
- Product Group
- Book
- IsTextBook
- No
- ISBN
- 9780151012244
About this product
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
ISBN-10
0151012245
ISBN-13
9780151012244
eBay Product ID (ePID)
45587014
Product Key Features
Book Title
Tropicana Nights : the Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub
Number of Pages
448 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
2005
Topic
Theater / General, Caribbean & West Indies / Cuba
Illustrator
Yes
Genre
Performing Arts, History
Format
Hardcover
Dimensions
Item Height
1.1 in
Item Weight
26.8 Oz
Item Length
9.2 in
Item Width
6.3 in
Additional Product Features
Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
2005-002398
Dewey Edition
22
Reviews
PRAISE FOR TROPICANA NIGHTS "An entertaining and vividly written book rich with anecdotes and history, Tropicana Nights is not only an homage to the glory days of Havana night-life in pre-Castro Cuba and the wondrous people who made it possible, but provides the reader with an exciting and detailed portrait of that most famous of venues. It's a book that will please all readers interested in the history of music and of Cuba itself."--Oscar Hijuelos, 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., PRAISE FORTROPICANA NIGHTS "An entertaining and vividly written book rich with anecdotes and history,Tropicana Nightsis not only an homage to the glory days of Havana night-life in pre-Castro Cuba and the wondrous people who made it possible, but provides the reader with an exciting and detailed portrait of that most famous of venues. It's a book that will please all readers interested in the history of music and of Cuba itself."--Oscar Hijuelos
Dewey Decimal
792.7/097291/23
Table Of Content
Contents PROLOGUE: The Flight 1 Part 1 Introductions 13 A Nickel on the Butterfly 24 The Boulevard of the New World 33 The Peanut Vendor 46 ValentÍn 62 Waiting Things Out 72 Covering Your Bets 82 Arcos de Cristal 94 Part 2 The Santos and the Song-and-Dance Man 111 The Two Loves of MartÍn Fox 127 The Coup 144 Mambo a la Tropicana 162 The Leap 178 The Circus 201 On Diamonds, Razzle, and Goddesses of the Flesh 220 Part 3 "The Guajiro has gone crazy!" 251 Cabaret in the Sky 265 Esta es mi Cuba, Mister 288 Part 4 Shattered Slots 309 Rumba at the Presidential Palace 316 Bongo Congo 329 Part 5 The House on Beacon Boulevard 341 Noche de Ronda 366 Acknowledgments 381 Appendix: A List of Rodney's Tropicana Shows 385 Author's Note on Sources 393 Dates of Interviews 411 Bibliography 415 Index 423
Synopsis
It was to Havana what the Moulin Rouge was to Paris or the Blue Note to New York. The brightest jewel in 1950s Cuban nightlife, Tropicana was a "paradise under the stars" where you could gamble, hear the finest mambo and jazz musicians, and ogle the extravagantly risqué floorshows. Nat "King" Cole played Tropicana; so did Josephine Baker. Americans-celebrities and suburbanites both-were drawn to its kinetic sensuality and tropical setting. And Tropicana remained a uniquely Cuban institution; unlike most Havana nightclubs, it operated free from the American mob's control. Journalist Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox, widow of Tropicana's last owner, vividly portray the cultural richness and roiling social problems of pre-Revolutionary Cuba and take the reader on an intimate insider's tour of one of the world's most glamorous venues at its most brilliant moment., Of all Cuba's nightclubs and cabarets, Tropicana has always held place of honor. Part casino and part cabaret it was all Cuban: the only nightclub owned and run by Cubans rather than by the American mob. TROPICANA NIGHTS brings back the days and nights of its greatest glory, in the 1940s and 1950s, when Havana was one of the most sophisticated and vibrant tourist destinations in the world, and where the combination of music, dance, gambling, and sex made it irresistible to post-War America. Co-written by Rosa Lowinger, a Havana-born American journalist who specializes in Cuban culture, and Ofelia Fox, the octogenarian widow of the nightclub's last proprietor, the book combines cultural history with memoir to reconstruct the days when, to thousands, Tropicana seemed like the most glorious place on earth-a "paradise under the stars." Part of the story recounted in this book is the growing bond between Lowinger and Fox, and how the older woman reveals to the younger what Tropicana came to represent. "If you grow up among Cuban exiles in Miami," Lowinger writes, "you quickly become used to hyperbole, to memories clouded by grief and loss. Everything in Cuba had once been more beautiful, more elegant, more glamorous. To many, Tropicana was the ultimate symbol of those days. But it belonged to my parents' world, not mine." When Rosa met Ofelia, however, she realized that the Tropicana's story transcended generations, and that the only way to bring it to life was to combine memoir and narrative., It was to Havana what the Moulin Rouge was to Paris or the Blue Note to New York. The brightest jewel in 1950s Cuban nightlife, Tropicana was a "paradise under the stars" where you could gamble, hear the finest mambo and jazz musicians, and ogle the extravagantly risque floorshows. Nat "King" Cole played Tropicana; so did Josephine Baker. Americans-celebrities and suburbanites both-were drawn to its kinetic sensuality and tropical setting. And Tropicana remained a uniquely Cuban institution; unlike most Havana nightclubs, it operated free from the American mob's control. Journalist Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox, widow of Tropicana's last owner, vividly portray the cultural richness and roiling social problems of pre-Revolutionary Cuba and take the reader on an intimate insider's tour of one of the world's most glamorous venues at its most brilliant moment., It was to Havana what the Moulin Rouge was to Paris or the Blue Note to New York. The brightest jewel in 1950s Cuban nightlife, Tropicana was a "paradise under the stars" where you could gamble, hear the finest mambo and jazz musicians, and ogle the extravagantly risque floorshows. Nat "King" Cole played Tropicana; so did Josephine Baker. Americans-celebrities and suburbanites both-were drawn to its kinetic sensuality and tropical setting. And Tropicana remained a uniquely Cuban institution; unlike most Havana nightclubs, it operated free from the American mob's control. Journalist Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox, widow of Tropicana's last owner, vividly portray the cultural richness and roiling social problems of pre-Revolutionary Cuba and take the reader on an intimate insider's tour of one of the world's most glamorous venues at its most brilliant moment."
LC Classification Number
PN1968.C9L68 2005
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- a***r (375)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchasei am so happy to have every book of this series! the price of the book & the shipping is very reasonable! the book was as described & was in excellent condition! it was shipped quickly & arrived quickly! the books are always packaged carefully so they arrived undamaged! the communication from the sellers is always excellent--they go out of their way for excellent customer service! i have been a repeat customer from this seller & always will be! this seller is the best bookseller on ebay!
- l***b (332)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchase5 STARS on ALL aspects... ITEM AS DESCRIBED - 5 STARS... PACKAGING & SHIPPING - 5 STARS... VALUE OF ITEM RECEIVED - 5 STARS... COMMUNICATION - 5 STARS. Would highly recommend this seller to all Ebay buyers without any reservations. Thanks again for your business with BB812, and we do appreciate your care and consideration of our offer. HAPPY EBAY LIFE !!!