Memory Mambo
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Ruth Oakes
-
By:
-
Achy Obejas
About this listen
Memory Mambo describes the life of Juani Casas, a 25-year-old Cuban-born American lesbian who manages her family's laundromat in Chicago while trying to cope with family, work, love, sex, and the weirdness of North American culture.
Achy Obejas's writing is sharp and mordantly funny. She understands perfectly how the romance of exile - from a homeland as well as from heterosexuality - and the mundane reality of everyday life balance each other. Memory Mambo is ultimately very moving in its depiction of what it means to find a new and finally safe sense of home.
©1996 Cleis Press (P)2012 Cleis PressRelated to this topic
-
Lifted by the Great Nothing
- By: Karim Dimechkie
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max doesn't remember his mother, who was murdered by burglars before they emigrated from Beirut to New Jersey. He lives with his father, Rasheed, who is enamored of his concept of American culture - baseball and barbeques - and tries to shed his Lebanese heritage completely.
-
-
Excellent
- By Cheyenne on 06-13-15
By: Karim Dimechkie
-
Falling Together
- A Novel
- By: Marisa de los Santos
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s been six years since Pen Calloway watched her best friends walk out of her life. And through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them. Pen, Cat, and Will met on their first day of college and formed what seemed like a magical and lifelong bond, only to see their friendship break apart amid the realities of adulthood. When, after years of silence, Cat - the bewitching, charismatic center of their group - e-mails Pen and Will with an urgent request to meet at their college reunion, they can’t refuse.
-
-
Narrator's breathy voice a turn off
- By Amy on 10-16-11
-
She's Come Undone
- By: Wally Lamb
- Narrated by: Linda Stephens
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly-up.
-
-
Really disappointing narrator!
- By Jessica Williams on 01-21-12
By: Wally Lamb
-
The Road Home
- By: Ford Michael Thomas Ford
- Narrated by: Blake Somerset
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a car accident leaves photographer Burke Crenshaw in need of temporary full-time care, he finds himself back in the one place no forty-year-old chooses to be--his childhood bedroom. There, in the Vermont home where he grew up, Burke begins the long process of recuperation, and watches as his widowed father finds happiness in a new relationship that's a constant reminder of everything Burke wants and lacks. Exploring local history, Burke discovers an intriguing series of letters from a Civil War soldier to his fianc.
-
-
No need to check your scepticism at the door!
- By Orlando on 08-23-13
-
Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See
- By: Juliann Garey
- Narrated by: Dan Butler
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her tour-de-force first novel, Juliann Garey takes us inside the restless mind, ravaged heart, and anguished soul of Greyson Todd, a successful Hollywood studio executive who leaves his wife and young daughter and for a decade travels the world giving free reign to the bipolar disorder he's been forced to keep hidden for almost 20 years.
-
-
Psychosis or Syphilis?
- By Vira on 04-02-13
By: Juliann Garey
-
God-Shaped Hole
- A Novel
- By: Tiffanie DeBartolo
- Narrated by: Rachael Warren
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Beatrice Trixie Jordan replies to a personal ad, she meets Jacob Grace, a charming, effervescent 30-something free-spirit writer passionately seeking life. He possesses his own turns of phrase and ways of thinking and feeling that dissonantly harmonize with Trixie's off-center vision. As they rollercoaster through the joys and furies of their wrenching romance, they try to come to terms with the hurt brought about by both of their distant fathers who, in different ways, forsook them.
-
-
To see a fortune teller or not to see one...
- By Renee on 08-08-18
-
Lifted by the Great Nothing
- By: Karim Dimechkie
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max doesn't remember his mother, who was murdered by burglars before they emigrated from Beirut to New Jersey. He lives with his father, Rasheed, who is enamored of his concept of American culture - baseball and barbeques - and tries to shed his Lebanese heritage completely.
-
-
Excellent
- By Cheyenne on 06-13-15
By: Karim Dimechkie
-
Falling Together
- A Novel
- By: Marisa de los Santos
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s been six years since Pen Calloway watched her best friends walk out of her life. And through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them. Pen, Cat, and Will met on their first day of college and formed what seemed like a magical and lifelong bond, only to see their friendship break apart amid the realities of adulthood. When, after years of silence, Cat - the bewitching, charismatic center of their group - e-mails Pen and Will with an urgent request to meet at their college reunion, they can’t refuse.
-
-
Narrator's breathy voice a turn off
- By Amy on 10-16-11
-
She's Come Undone
- By: Wally Lamb
- Narrated by: Linda Stephens
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly-up.
-
-
Really disappointing narrator!
- By Jessica Williams on 01-21-12
By: Wally Lamb
-
The Road Home
- By: Ford Michael Thomas Ford
- Narrated by: Blake Somerset
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a car accident leaves photographer Burke Crenshaw in need of temporary full-time care, he finds himself back in the one place no forty-year-old chooses to be--his childhood bedroom. There, in the Vermont home where he grew up, Burke begins the long process of recuperation, and watches as his widowed father finds happiness in a new relationship that's a constant reminder of everything Burke wants and lacks. Exploring local history, Burke discovers an intriguing series of letters from a Civil War soldier to his fianc.
-
-
No need to check your scepticism at the door!
- By Orlando on 08-23-13
-
Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See
- By: Juliann Garey
- Narrated by: Dan Butler
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her tour-de-force first novel, Juliann Garey takes us inside the restless mind, ravaged heart, and anguished soul of Greyson Todd, a successful Hollywood studio executive who leaves his wife and young daughter and for a decade travels the world giving free reign to the bipolar disorder he's been forced to keep hidden for almost 20 years.
-
-
Psychosis or Syphilis?
- By Vira on 04-02-13
By: Juliann Garey
-
God-Shaped Hole
- A Novel
- By: Tiffanie DeBartolo
- Narrated by: Rachael Warren
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Beatrice Trixie Jordan replies to a personal ad, she meets Jacob Grace, a charming, effervescent 30-something free-spirit writer passionately seeking life. He possesses his own turns of phrase and ways of thinking and feeling that dissonantly harmonize with Trixie's off-center vision. As they rollercoaster through the joys and furies of their wrenching romance, they try to come to terms with the hurt brought about by both of their distant fathers who, in different ways, forsook them.
-
-
To see a fortune teller or not to see one...
- By Renee on 08-08-18
-
Kissing Games of the World
- By: Sandi Kahn Shelton
- Narrated by: Myra Platt
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if the one person you can't bear to be with is also the one person you can't bear to be without? Jamie McClintock is a free-spirited artist and single mother who has at last found peace and freedom sharing a farmhouse with an elderly man and his young grandson. But when the old man dies suddenly her idyllic country life comes to a halt as the old man's estranged son, Nate, returns to claim the house and his child.
-
-
Great Writer, Great Narrator ! Loved it!
- By Ms. Critic on 05-30-09
-
Unruly
- By: Cora Brent
- Narrated by: Joel Richards, Luci Christian Bell
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is not a simple story. This is not even just one story. There’s a boy, and there’s a girl. But there’s so much more than that. I was going home. Not forever; only long enough to watch my eternally irresponsible father marry a girl who happened to be my childhood enemy. There were no plans to embark on some crazy sex odyssey with a wild 19-year old baseball player. Easton Malone is insufferable, crude, and far too close. The hot, reckless days we shared should never have happened. I would forget him.
-
-
Slow start, but good overall.
- By Leah on 12-27-15
By: Cora Brent
-
The Opportunist
- By: Tarryn Fisher
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olivia Kaspen has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend Caleb Drake has lost his memory. With an already lousy reputation for taking advantage of situations, Olivia must decide how far she is willing to go to get Caleb back.
-
-
overall: irritating book
- By DD on 02-14-17
By: Tarryn Fisher
-
Orange Mint and Honey
- By: Carleen Brice
- Narrated by: Cherise Booth
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After grad school, Shay Dixon feels like she's had enough for awhile. Inspired by her spiritual adviser - a soul-soothing blues player named Nina Simon - Shay calls her estranged mother Nona for the first time in years, and shocks herself by asking if it would be okay to come home for a while.
-
-
One For The Money
- By DiaRose on 09-25-17
By: Carleen Brice
-
Purple Hearts
- A Novel
- By: Tess Wakefield
- Narrated by: Kyle Mason, Shayna Thibodeaux
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cassie Salazar and Luke Morrow couldn't be more different. Sharp-witted Cassie works nights at a bar in Austin, Texas, to make ends meet while pursuing her dream of becoming a singer/songwriter. Luke is an army trainee, about to ship out for duty, who finds comfort in the unswerving discipline of service. But a chance encounter at Cassie's bar changes the course of both their lives.
-
-
RATING PURPLE HEARTS BOOK VS PURPLE HEARTS MOVIE
- By Rozzy on 02-05-23
By: Tess Wakefield
-
F*ck Love
- By: Tarryn Fisher
- Narrated by: Marisa Vitali
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Helena Conway has fallen in love. Unwillingly. Unwittingly. But not unprovoked. Kit Isley is everything she's not - unstructured, untethered, and not even a little bit careful. It could all be so beautiful...if he wasn't dating her best friend. Helena must defy her heart, do the right thing, and think of others. Until she doesn't.
-
-
Left me feeling confused?
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 09-15-16
By: Tarryn Fisher
-
Sea of Love
- A Barberry Island Novel, Book 1
- By: Susan Donovan
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket rests Bayberry Island, home to a bronze mermaid statue that promises to grant true love to anyone who asks with an open heart. For years Rowan Flynn distanced herself from Bayberry Island and its infamous mermaid legend. But after her investor fiancé lost what was left of her family’s fortune, Rowan reluctantly agreed to run the Safe Haven Bed-and-Breakfast, determined never again to fall for the ridiculous fantasy of the mermaid matchmaker.
-
-
Oh My
- By Paula on 09-09-14
By: Susan Donovan
-
Nowhere but Here
- By: Renee Carlino
- Narrated by: Amy Landon, Zach Villa
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kate Corbin had a handsome boyfriend and a budding career as a reporter at a popular Chicago newspaper. But after the death of the woman who raised her, she fell into a rut and never got out. Now she's stuck writing fluff pieces about lipstick and wine and feeling trapped in a relationship that's going nowhere. Kate's boss gives her an intriguing assignment: spend a week interviewing R. J. Lawson, a modern-day Howard Hughes who recently reemerged as the owner of a well-respected Napa winery.
-
-
Lovely
- By Rhonie on 10-24-14
By: Renee Carlino
-
Sister, Sister
- By: Eric Jerome Dickey
- Narrated by: Sisi Aisha Johnson, Patricia R Floyd, Susan Spain
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Join three beautiful young women, Valeria, Inda, and Chiquita, as they look for Mr. Right in the bright lights of L.A. Gutsy, graphic, and full of sensual energy, Sister, Sister is Dickey at his best.
-
-
Sister Sister is Sensational!
- By Thomas on 04-06-08
-
The Wangs vs. the World
- By: Jade Chang
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Wang is mad at America. A brash, lovable immigrant businessman who built a cosmetics empire and made a fortune, he's just been ruined by the financial crisis. Now all Charles wants is to get his kids safely stowed away so that he can go to China and attempt to reclaim his family's ancestral lands - and his pride. Outrageously funny and full of charm, The Wangs vs. the World is an entirely fresh look at what it means to belong in America - and how going from glorious riches to (still name-brand) rags brings one family together in a way money never could.
-
-
Spectacular
- By Barbara on 10-11-16
By: Jade Chang
-
Still Missing
- By: Chevy Stevens
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a 32-year-old Realtor, had three goals: sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.
-
-
A singular voice; a horrendous story.
- By Richard Delman on 01-21-12
By: Chevy Stevens
-
Love Walked In
- By: Marisa de los Santos
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning poet Marisa de los Santos crafts an irresistibly touching debut novel. Love Walked In is a contemporary tale, steeped in nostalgic, cinematic charm, of love in all its forms. Unapologetically idealistic about love, Cornelia Brown appears to catch the break of a lifetime when the dashing Martin Grace, her own personal Cary Grant, comes strolling into her life. But it is Martin's connection to 11-year-old Clare Hobbes that touches Cornelia's heart in ways she never imagined.
-
-
Dreadful audio quality
- By Marenghi on 09-16-11
What listeners say about Memory Mambo
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shelley
- 08-27-12
Interesting Story, Excellent Narration
Where does Memory Mambo rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Although there were interesting aspects to Memory Mambo, I didn't find the story engrossing, or unique in any way. However contrary to the previous reviewer's assessment of the narration, I thought the narrator struck just the right chords in telling the story. Often I am put off by narrators who are more interested in showing their vocal skills than in telling the story. This narrator served the story with clear diction and an easy forward moving flow, without calling attention to herself as the narrator.
Would you be willing to try another book from Achy Obejas? Why or why not?
I might try another book by Ms. Obejas; her language showed promise and she was able to present clearly drawn characters.
What does Ruth Oakes bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
As alluded to above, Ruth Oakes helps the forward movement of the plot by tuning into the the rhythms of the author's language. It feels as if we are reading the novel, but we are gently coaxed along, expecially in those instances when the novel slows.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BL
- 06-02-12
Good story, painful performance
The story:
Juani Casas is a 25-year-old Cuban American exile living in Chicago with her family and managing the family business, a lavanderia (laundromat). Throughout the novel, she interrogates the nature of memory as she constructs and deconstructs various “memories” in an effort to understand how they shape her and the people around her.
Juani and her family fled Cuba when she was very young, so her recollections of the place are mostly vague, colorful images or narrative sequences that she’s technically too young to remember. “Cuba” thus takes on mythic proportions for her: it is the place where she thinks she can discover the missing pieces of herself and thereby feel whole at last. Although she doesn’t physically visit Cuba in the novel, a key element of her growth and self-discovery is her gradual decision to leave the lavanderia and travel to Cuba, after which she hopes to embark on some sort of career of her own.
Juani’s relationship to her family is similar to those of many immigrant children struggling to navigate biculturalism. The family is extremely close-knit—almost a self-sufficient community of their own—and Juani must learn how to differentiate herself from her family while still maintaining their mutual love and connection.
My favorite aspect of the novel is how colorfully Obejas draws her characters. Her background in short-story writing serves her well. Aside from Juani, the characters are not necessarily all that complex, but they're entertaining and fairly easy to remember from chapter to chapter—Caridad, the battered wife; Jimmy, her sleazebag husband; Gina, Juani's semi-closeted lover who got away; etc. I'm almost sorry that I won't be hearing more about them, now that I've finished the book.
The performance:
The emotional affect of the narration was way off. At first, I seriously wondered whether I was listening to a computer program reading instead of a person. Even after the narration developed a little more vocal variety, the emotions failed to match the words being read (a moment of trauma would sound like an amusing anecdote, for example). I only made it to the end of the audiobook because I needed to for a project. *Memory Mambo* appears to be the only book available on Audible from this narrator so far, so maybe the painful sing-song was due to a first-timer's nerves or inexperience. Whatever the reason, the shoddy narration very nearly ruined this book for me ... be forewarned.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Isabel
- 01-06-16
Narrator can't speak Spanish
What did you like best about this story?
The book is insightful, occasionally well written, and original.
What didn’t you like about Ruth Oakes’s performance?
The narration is uncomfortable and distracts from Achy Obejas' novel. A good narrator will disappear into the story; a great narrator will bring life and feeling to the text. Not so with Ruth Oakes. I literally missed moments of this novel, because I was so distracted by the narrator's errors and strange intonation. Other reviewers have already pointed out that the narrator's halting pace and sing-song voice. But nobody has noticed the OTHER problem with this narrator: She can't pronounce Spanish. Why hire a narrator who can't pronounce any of the characters' names or half their dialogue? And given the mispronunciations, it's cringe-inducing to listen to her fake a Cuban-American accent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Javier McTeigue
- 10-31-23
Tbh racist accents
Offensive narration- makes latinidad seem like a performance anyone can just ‘put on’ and brings down such a powerful and important piece.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rose
- 11-05-13
Definately the worst narrator I've ever heard
How did the narrator detract from the book?
This book on tape sounded as if it was being read to me by Siri. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't actually read by a human at all. The inflections were all wrong and the timing and rhythm of her voice sounded strange to the degree that it was difficult to pay attention to what she was saying.
Any additional comments?
Great book. Terrible narrator.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RUTH
- 09-24-12
INTERESTING STORY!
Would you consider the audio edition of Memory Mambo to be better than the print version?
It helps to hear the character voices. It brings the story to life.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Memory Mambo?
The drama of the final chapters.
What does Ruth Oakes bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
She brings the story to life.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
The Chronicles of Cuban families' transition to America
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sara Buitrago
- 11-06-20
HORRIBLE READER
Horrible reader! choose someone who knows Spanish!! She butchered the Spanish words and it was really unpleasant and uncomfortable to hear. Choose a more accurate book reader someone who know Spanish, her voice is really not adequate for this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!