Skarmeta charms once again…The Dancer and the Thief is much more than an agreeable caper. Though Skarmeta scarcely ranks at the very top of Latin America's remarkably distinguished and varied literary elite, he is a serious writer to whom the death and rebirth of democracy in his native Chile is an endlessly compelling subject…Though the ending that Skarmeta gives his characters falls well short of happy, the Chile that he portrays herein is vibrant and strong.
—The Washington Post
Skármeta (The Postman) conjures in his impressive sixth book a contemporary Santiago, Chile, where the memory of Pinochet's reign and the "disappearing" of citizens still looms. Presidential amnesty has granted freedom to some nonviolent criminals, releasing 20-year-old Ángel Santiago, a passionate young man imprisoned for impulsively stealing a wealthy rancher's horse, and 60-year-old "Nico" Vergara Grey, a gentleman-thief who has repented his life of crime. Ángel plans a grand heist and some payback, butut Ángel's heist is dependent on Nico, who wants only to be taken back by his estranged wife and son. Looming in the background is the warden who allowed inmates to rape and torture Ángel. Fearing (correctly) that Ángel will want revenge, the warden hires an assassin to kill him. Intertwined is Ángel's meeting with Victoria Ponce, a ballet student who wants to compose a dance to commemorate her dead father, a resistance member murdered by Pinochet's goons. Ángel helps Victoria move toward realizing her dream, and Nico eventually agrees to help with the heist, but with the assassin on his trail, Ángel may not be so lucky. Surprising jolts of humor flash throughout this powerful, humane novel. (Feb.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Known for his canny knack for combining the elements of love, national crisis, and humor, SkArmeta, Chile's former ambassador to Germany, is also the author of the novel on which the highly popular movie Il Postinowas based. Now that Chile has returned to democracy after its traumatic years of dictatorship, the president extends amnesty to all nonviolent criminals in the nation's overcrowded prisons. Among them are a charismatic young horse thief named Angel Santiago and the master bank robber NicolAs Vergara Grey. Almost as soon as Angel leaves prison, he meets a talented dancer named Victoria Ponce, who desperately needs cash to finance her lessons, and he hatches the plan for a breathtaking bank heist if only he can enlist the aid of NicolAs, who also happens to need cash to rekindle the flames of his marriage to the beautiful Teresa Capriatti. Because Angel is a skilled horseman, an escape on horseback over the Andes to Buenos Aires for Angel, NicolAs, and Victoria seems like the perfect getaway. Warm, witty, and universal, this novel by veteran and prize-winning novelist SkArmeta is an absorbing page-turner. [See Prepub Alert, LJ10/1/07.]
—Jack Shreve
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Chilean author Skarmeta (The Postman, 1995, etc.) returns to post-dictatorship Santiago in this tale of beauty, crime and revenge. In an attempt to deplete Santiago's overflowing jails-and in part to right a previous wrong-the government has suddenly granted an amnesty for nonviolent prisoners. Among those released are Angel Santiago, a young man who years earlier had stolen a horse, and Nicolas Vergara Gray, a notorious (but gentle and reflective) bank robber. Angel has been seared by his experience in prison, most notably for having been literally tossed into a den of thieves and brutalized at the behest of the evil warden Santoro. Now that he's out he wants revenge, and because Santoro knows of this desire, on the sly the warden also lets out Rigoberto Mar'n, a lifer, for 30 days, to allow him to assassinate Angel. Angel, however, doesn't just want revenge, he wants romance, and this comes to him unexpectedly in the form of Victoria Ponce, a 17-year-old dancer who's recently been booted from school for truancy and general recalcitrance. While their relationship is intensely sexual, it's also very sweet, for Angel, who has a photographic memory, begins to tutor Victoria so that she can complete her academic education and attend dance school. Meanwhile, Vergara Gray wants nothing more than to be reunited with his long-suffering wife Teresa, but he finds her both indifferent and impatient-she's suffered enough. Intrigue thickens as the recently released prisoners find themselves woefully short of money; they need to be creative in coming up with ways to find enough cash to eke out a day-to-day existence on the gritty streets of the city. To aid them, criminal genius Lira the Dwarf, whosebrilliance is in inverse proportion to his stature, sends Vergara Gray a letter from jail outlining a plan to make them all rich. A novel with a paradoxical combination of warmth and guile.
