Kiss and Tango: Looking for Love in Buenos Aires

I've never made it a secret that I am a fan of Argentine Tango, so it was a fairly good bet that I would pick up this book on a recent foray into my local MegaBookstore. The title is certainly intriguing enough: Kiss & Tango: Diary of a Dancehall Seductress, chronicling the author's introduction and freefall into the world of tango. We meet Marina Palmer on her way to a vacation in Buenos Aires, seeking a break from her fast track job in adverstising. She's not exactly certain what she is going to find in Argentina, but when her friends take her to a milonga -- both a rhythm and a term for an informal dance -- Marina finds something that she's been looking for all of her life. Watching a couple dancing together, she's mesmerized and struck by the hightened aura of passion that seems to link them together. Soon enough, she's seeking out lessons in tango and on her return to the States, she flings herself into the nightlife of tango lessons and clubs. Soon, she's finding out that what had started out as an interest has crossed over into an obsession. She's not getting nearly enough sleep, spends her free time hitting tango clubs and getting lessons, and figuring out the smouldering sensuality that lays beneath the stylized figures. She's also discovering that men generally dance the tango for one reason -- sex -- but when it comes to the actual shift from being vertical to horizontal, many men chicken out, or just can't seem to rise to the occansion. Even her job is suffering and Palmer decides on a drastic change in her life: She's going to go off and study tango in Buenos Aires for a year or two. Her friends and family are shocked and perplexed by her decision. She doesn't know anyone there, she doesn't speak much Spanish, and the state of Argentine politics doesn't make it a very safe place. But Marina is determined, and soon she's dancing and meeting people in Buenos Aires, soaking up the lifestyle, the culture, and a collection of men that run the gamut from hot and sexy, to macho and silly, and a few that she gets a very unusual surprise from. Palmer's writing style is certainly barbed, in between the laughing I was wincing at her very candid remarks about men and the fact that they adore the chase, but when it comes to commitment, they never quite measure up. Even trying to make it on the professional standard it's not easy, and she finds out just how much jealousy and slights do matter in this world. Written as her entries in her journal, it has an immediate, intimate feel that makes you feel as though you are right beside her. Most of all, it takes a look at just what tango is, lifting it out of the hackneyed stereotypes and showing it as a dance of unspoken communications, where just for a few minutes, if you dare, the fantasy of being sought and desired can be fulfilled along with the romance of being swept away. The paperback edition of this book does have a few additional extras that the hardbound does not. Palmer includes a co