2013
First Published
4.36
Average Rating
134
Number of Pages
Every year, at the height of summer, the remote Argentine village of Laborde holds the national malambo contest. Centuries old, this shatteringly demanding traditional gaucho dance is governed by the most rigid rules. And this festival has one stipulation that makes it unique: the malambo is danced for up to five minutes. That may seem like nothing, but consider the world record for the hundred-meter dash is 9.58 seconds. The dance contest is an obsession for countless young men, who sacrifice their bodies and money as they strive to become the champion, knowing that if they win—in order to safeguard the title’s prestige—they can never compete again. When Leila Guerriero traveled to Laborde, one dancer’s performance took her breath away, and she spent a year following him as he prepared for the next festival. The result is this superlative piece of journalism, told with tremendous economy and power.
Avg Rating
4.36
Number of Ratings
1,842
5 STARS
51%
4 STARS
36%
3 STARS
11%
2 STARS
2%
1 STARS
0%
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Author
Leila Guerriero
Author · 11 books
Leila Guerriero is an Argentinian journalist. She began her career in 1991, as an editor with the magazine Página/30, part of the Argentine newspaper Página/12. Since then her texts have appeared in various publications across Latin America and Europe: La Nación and Rolling Stone, in Argentina; El País, Altaïr and Jot Down, in Spain; Piauí, in Brazil; Leopard, in Mexico; L’Internazionale, in Italy, among others. She is the author of many books, including Los suicidas del fin del mundo (Tusquets, 2004); Frutos extraños (2009, Aguilar, Alfaguara); Una historia sencilla (2013, Anagram); and La Otra Guerra (2021, Anagram). She has received the CEMEX + FNPI New Journalism Award, González-Ruano Prize, Blue Metropolis Grand Prix and Manuel Vázquez Montalbán International Journalism Award. She is the Latin American editor for Gatopardo magazine, and works as a teacher at the Gabo Foundation, founded by Gabriel García Márquez. Her work has been translated into English, French, German, Swedish, Portuguese, Italian and Polish.
