Ramón arrives from southern Spain to one of Barcelona's most emblematic cabarets in the 1960s, hoping to make a career as a singer. In postcards, letters, and photographs he regularly sends to his family, he shares his successes and occasional failures, his discovery of the big city, and the simultaneously sordid and fascinating world of his fellow performers.
Ramón's postcards and successes fill his parents with pride. They also immerse his younger brother in a dreamlike world of artists, musicians, magicians, and dancers who dazzle the teenager struggling to leave behind the irretrievable world of childhood. When dancers begin to drop dead on stage during a performance, the teenage narrator discovers that the adult world can be even harsher than the difficult transition from childhood to adolescence, where every averted glance from girls stings, and where games often end in f...read more
