My Tango With Barbara Strozzi

Description

Recently separated, Phil Ockerman falls hard for Bertha Strunk at a tango lesson in Clerkenwell. Bertha also bears a strong resemblance to the seventeenth-century Venetian singer and composer Barbara Strozzi (with whom Phil happens to be obsessed), to the point where Phil is no longer sure which is which. Navigating several London underground lines and considerable planetary activity, Russell Hoban's intriguing romance tangos its way through a world of infidelity, artificial eyeballs, baseball bats and music - never missing a daring, seductive step.

First published 2007.

Promotion info

There has been an international 'Russell Hoban Some-Poasyum', and dedicated fans celebrate his birthday by leaving their favourite quotes from his books in public placesFor fans of films with a twist of the fantastical such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep and AmelieA perfect book to carry on the tube, with its many references to the hidden corners of the capital

Reviews

'I urge anyone who thinks of arming or improving themselves with this year's Booker shortlist to tuck up instead with the collected works of Russell Hoban and a bottle of Glenfiddich. He is fun, shrewd, humane; and unique' Spectator 'Hoban is that rare bird: a writer whose voice is utterly his own. For my money, his wonderfully original novels will endure long after most current high flyers have hit the dust ... This is an eccentric, sharply observed, kind book. We need writers like Hoban' Salley Vickers, Independent 'My Tango With Barbara Strozzi is a haunting: exasperating, funny, sad and elegiac. Catch it before it disappears' Guardian 'A deceptively complex novel of ideas, about reality, identity and ontology, that is only masquerading as a sweetly simple boy meets girl story' Independent on Sunday

Author description

Russell Hoban is the author of many extraordinary novels including Turtle Diary, Riddley Walker, Amaryllis Night and Day, The Bat Tattoo, Her Name Was Lola, Come Dance With Me and Linger Awhile. He has also written some classic books for children including The Mouse and his Child and the Frances books. He lives in London.