Dancer

"Dancer" tells the story of an insecure artist who craved attention on and off the stage to soothe both ego and demons. It begins in the bowels of Russia's icy countryside. The county has nearly been crushed under the weight of Soviet Russia's communist ideals. Rudolf Nureyev is a boy overcome with the will to dance; his parents that do not understand his obsession; his teachers devote themselves to his personality as much as his art. An underdog turned hero of ballet, McCann's novel is a beautifully written, fictional account of non-fictional events from the perspectives of the people who knew him.

This novel is written with the smooth readability of a modern fairy tale that spans the poverty of St. Petersberg to the debauchery of '80s New York City. McCann captures the essence of Nureyev's style, but is objective enough to allow Nureyev the man speak for himself. Nureyev's artistic prowess is matched by his sexual voracity. He was impossibly disciplined and prone to epic tantrums. He was a deeply insecure genius. This novel captures it all in whimsical, yet severe, detail.

McCann is a winner of the National Book Award for fiction for "Let The Great World Spin" (Random House). He is a teacher of creative writing at Hunter College. He has written other novels, no doubt equally as lovely, that can be discovered on his website.

"Dancer: A Novel"
Colum McCann
Picador Modern Classics
$18.00