Hold Me Tight And Tango Me Home Maria Finn by Maria Finn 9781565125179, 1565125177 instant download after payment.

Maria Finn's husband was cheating. First she threw him out. Then she cried. Then she signed up for tango lessons. It turns out that tango has a lot to teach about understanding love and loss, about learning how to follow and how to lead, how to live with style and flair, take risks, and sort out what it is you really want. As Maria's world begins to revolve around the friendships she makes in dance class and the milongas (social dances) she attends regularly in New York City, we discover with her the fascinating culture, history, music, moves, and beauty of the Argentine tango. With each new dance step she learns—the embrace, the walk, the sweep, the exit—she is one step closer to returning to the world of the living. Eventually Maria travels to Buenos Aires, the birthplace of tango, and finds the confidence to try romance again. 

As exhilarating as the dance itself, the story whirls us into the center of the ballroom dancing craze. And buoyed by the author's humor and passion, it imparts surprising insights about how to get on with life after you've lost in love.

Shaken by the discovery that her Cuban husband and salsa partner was having an affair, Finn, a contributor to New York magazine, embarked on learning to tango as a way of healing her broken heart, and chronicles her journey in this rather dry memoir. In tango, an Argentinean dance form originating in the immigrant neighborhoods and brothels of Buenos Aires, she tapped the sources of human sorrow and human happiness and found a safe comfort and intimacy among strangers. From standing on the sidelines watching the elegant, accomplished couples to plunging into her initial lessons at the South Street Seaport and attending her first milongas, or social dances, Finn had to connect with a series of constantly changing partners, some better at leading than others, and some more forgiving than others about her mistakes. Finn organizes her memoir around the tango steps—from la salida (the basic) through la caminata (the walk), la volcada (the fall), el boleo (the throw), all the way to el abrazo (the embrace)—which also cleverly mirror her stages of grief, from anger to acceptance. Sadly, her foray remains journalistically stilted rather than tango sensuous, and rarely warms the reader. Along with her personal story, involving a trip to a wedding in Buenos Aires and documenting there the gay tango scene, she nicely elucidates the evolution of the dance, through the music of Astor Piazzolla and Carlos Gardel, and traces briefly its flashpoints across the globe, from America to Finland and Turkey. (Feb.)
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When she discovered her husband was cheating on her, New York City resident Finn wallowed in anger and grief—but not for long. She realized the quickest path to recovery was to get off her duff and dance. Finn was drawn to the tango from the moment she happened upon a cluster of dashing dancers strutting their stuff in Central Park. She soon found her date book filled with nightly milongas (social dances). Tango, Finn learned, had its own vast vocabulary of steps, from El Gancho (The Hook) and El Boleo (The Throw) to El Abrazo (The Embrace). Its themes of sorrow and heartbreak meshed well with her melancholy frame of mind. The tango eventually gave Finn the confidence to begin dating again. Most of her matchups were a bust, but she didn’t give up hope. When she traveled to Buenos Aires (on a trip originally planned with her husband), she realized that her life wasn’t over; it had only begun. Finn has penned a lively debut memoir, brimming with tango history and lore. --Allison Block