Irrawaddy Tango

by Wendy Law-Yone

Book Overview

A novel of love, vengeance and political unrest in South East Asia

Irrawaddy Tango, a pepper-tongued, tango-dancing Asian beauty rises from a village girlhood to become the wife of her country's dictator and then a leader of the rebel forces arrayed against him. Tango captures the attention of an ambitious colonel --the self-proclaimed Supremo--while dancing at a talent contest. Once married, she is forced to endure the cruelties of a ruthless...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0810151421
• ISBN13: 9780810151420
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Triquarterly Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

An Important Book

Irrawaddy Tango is a great read -- not only a rollicking ride but also, at times, shockingly brutal and necessarily honest. As a view into late 20th century Southeast Asia from the eyes of a female exile/refugee, it's a important look into relationships between men and women and those between cultures. For those interested in Burma, Southeast Asia, women's studies, human rights, or postcolonial/transnational literature, Irrawaddy Tango is not to be missed.

Not a dance but a person ...

... "Irrawaddy Tango" is the nickname of a girl -- "Irrawaddy" from her township, "Tango" from her favorite dance -- who lives the history of a Southeast Asian country called "Daya". Daya is quite clearly Burma, renamed so that Law-Yone can invent Irrawaddy Tango as the wife of "Supremo" (himself quite clearly General Ne Win); then a prisoner and ultimately leader of ethnic rebels; an exile in America; and ultimately return her to an ambiguous fate in Daya.The book is brutal, explicit and bitter; Tango herself is not entirely likeable, particularly in her patronizing and dismissive attitude towards fellow refugee Dayans in Washington. But there is a lot of brutality and bitterness in the scenes Law-Yone describes & no doubt they are not far from life.