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Title: Dancer: A Novel by Colum McCann ISBN: 0-8050-6792-2 Publisher: Metropolitan Books Pub. Date: 06 January, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.32 (19 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Brilliant writing elicits life at the passionate edge
Comment: First, the writing in this book is as breathtaking as actually seeing Rudi dance--and I have. This book is NOT for the linear/literal minded. James Joyceian, fluid, associate language alternates with standard sentence format, and the combination brings alive the passions and personalities of Nureyev's life. In this book he appears as the larger-than-life character he really was. I have recommended this book to SO many people, and haven't had a disappointment yet. Please ignore the reviews of those who are judging this book by their own fixed expectations of what a book about a dancer should be. This novelized bio is more true than any group of literal facts.
Rating: 2
Summary: what is this book about?
Comment: Can anyone tell me what this book is about? Those who praise it say it's about Nureyev, those who don't are told they have missed the point as it is not about him at all, it can't be about dancing can it, or it would tell more about precisely that, in fact I felt that I had read mostly about the author's fasicination for New York's avant garde society, how they really live and what their sex life is about. And frankly, that's not enough for me to call a book, let alone a masterpiece. Let alone a masterpiece about a dancer.
Rating: 3
Summary: Why call this Dancer?
Comment: Reading Colum McCann's novel "Dancer" is a little like listening to a room full of people, none of whom are familiar to you. Whilst you might hear some interesting gossip & some tantalizing tidbits, in general their chatter means little.
McCann's decision to portray Rudolph Nureyev through the eyes of those who knew him at various stages of his life could have been interesting if any continuity had been maintained. We spend differing amounts of time with different "voices" but the pages allocated to them seem to have little to do with their importance to the story. Some who initially have many pages never reappear. One who hasn't even been mentioned for most of the book suddenly becomes the primary focus towards the end without much to add to the story. A few have no noticable connection to Nureyev at all. The voices themselves have so little differentiation that it is often hard to tell who is currently speaking. When a unique voice is attempted, it is an annoying affectation as in the case of "Victor", a highly social gay friend of Rudi's.
The primary problem with "Dancer" tho, is that it's protagonist DOESN'T. Altho we are often told how much Rudi loves to dance, how talented he is, how hard he works, we never learn about the daily mechanics, the minutiae of the dancer's life. In the same manner the voices describe Nureyev's animal magnetism yet the reader never FEELS it or understands what is so compelling about this person.
"Dancer" is a relatively interesting novel, but I never felt I was reading about RUDOLPH NUREYEV despite the inclusion of trivia from his life. This could have been any bisexual Russian defector of the period, or none, or an amalgam. Don't purchase "Dancer" hoping to read the definitive novel on ballet; get Edward Stewart's excellent "Ballerina" for that.
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Title: This Side of Brightness: A Novel by Colum McCann ISBN: 0312421974 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Liars and Saints by Maile Meloy ISBN: 0743244354 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Everything in This Country Must : A Novella and Two Stories by Colum McCann ISBN: 0312273185 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 07 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Life and Adventures of Lyle Clemens: A Novel by John Rechy ISBN: 0802117465 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Strapped for Cash: A History of American Hustler Culture by Mack Friedman ISBN: 155583731X Publisher: Alyson Pubns Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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