The Dance and the Fire

"In the evocative latest from Saldaña París (Planes Flying over a Monster), a choreographer’s visionary project shakes a Mexican city out of its collective slumber... Saldaña París executes some spellbinding moves... This smoldering tale is worth a look." —Publishers Weekly

"Daniel Saldaña París’s new novel, The Dance and the Fire, has everything a reader could want: climate dystopia, hysterical dancing, and a long-standing love triangle . . . As the surrounding landscape succumbs, one friend seeks solace in dance. Inspired by German Expressionism and medieval danse macabre, the performance expands into something more intense than any of them anticipated, fracturing boundaries between the present world and the past, between myth and reality." —Vulture

"Poignant and compelling, this lyrical translation of Saldaña París’ depiction of youth foundering into maturity against the backdrop of chaos, hysteria, and destruction is a solid add for all literary collections." —Booklist

"Hallucinatory perception, the ephemeral nature of memory, and the intransience of art all come into play in this triptych of confessions from deepest Mexico. Here, Saldaña París leans less on the tragicomedy of the human condition to craft something a little darker and meaner about damaged people turning their hurt inward." —Kirkus

"A kaleidoscopic, erudite, and sweepingly tender novel reminiscent of Sebald, if Sebald was on acid. The Dance and the Fire’s power comes from the ambitious (yet brilliantly compacted) range of its themes—fatherhood, eros, art, judgment, personal and archival aporia—that culminate in a book as capacious, porous, and resonant as history itself." —Ocean Vuong , author of ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS

"An absorbing and alarming chimera of a novel in which past meets present, fantasy meets flesh, and individual malaise collides with the woes of a vast and unraveling society. Saldaña París is a deft and clever storyteller." —C. Pam Zhang , author of LAND OF MILK AND HONEY

"The Dance and the Fire is a wonder, brimming with hypnotic prose, wildly vivid descriptions, and intimately—and intricately—drawn characters. It’s as explosive as a wildfire, yet as precise and graceful as meticulously crafted choreography. All that remains is to dance." —Isaac Fitzgerald , author of DIRTBAG, MASSACHUSETTS

"The Dance and the Fire is exuberantly strange, dark, and comic; an enthralling ode to Cuernavaca and the modern rebirth of medieval choreomania, as well as a prophecy about what happens when the built-up dread of our world on fire begins to seep into the soul. Daniel Saldaña Paris is an extraordinary talent, and his novel feels both urgent and true." —Lauren Groff , author of THE VASTER WILDS

"The Dance and the Fire seems to catch fire on every page, seems to burn with jungle and bromeliads: it is a combustible book that alights with visions and cruelty." —La Repubblica

"Saldaña Paris' prose is subtle, and his intelligence diaphanous. But be aware: the characters and the stories that bring them together are ferocious." —Álvaro Enrigue , author of YOU DREAMED OF EMPIRES

"A stylistic force that, in dialogue with aesthetic and political commitment, elevates it as an imposing work." —Zenda

"The words of The Dance and the Fire creep up on the reader, leaving them feeling slightly unnerved. Humor contrasts with seriousness, although that seriousness, in the end, is all a performance: the fire, at turns hilarious, at turns rabid, of a­ carnival." —Revista de la Universidad de México

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Praise for Daniel Saldaña París
Los Angeles Times , A Best Book of SummerW Magazine , A Best Book of SummerLibrary Journal , A Title to WatchLiterary Hub , A Most Anticipated Book of the YearOur Culture Magazine , A Most Anticipated Book of the Summer