Dancer

A Novel

Colum McCann

Picador

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Dancer is the erotically charged story of the Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev as told through the cast of those who knew him: there is Anna Vasileva, Rudi's first ballet teacher, who rescues her protégé from the stunted life of his provincial town; Yulia, whose sexual and artistic ambitions are thwarted by her Soviet-sanctioned marriage; and Victor, the Venezuelan street hustler, who reveals the lurid underside of the gay celebrity set. Spanning four decades and many worlds, from the horrors of the Second World War to the wild abandon of New York in the eighties, Dancer is peopled by a large cast of characters, obscure and famous: doormen and shoemakers, nurses and translators, Margot Fonteyn, Eric Bruhn and John Lennon. And at the heart of the spectacle stands the artist himself, willful, lustful, and driven by a never-to-be-met need for perfection.

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Book Excerpts

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From Dancer:


Just when we all thought they were finished, a small blond boy stepped out of the line. He extended his legs, placed his hands firmly on his hips and hitched his thumbs at his back. He bent his neck slightly forward, stretched his elbows out and began. The soldiers in their beds propped themselves up. The boy went to the floor for a squatting dance. We all stood silently watching. The boy grinned. Some soldiers began clapping in rhythm but, just as the dance was about to end, the boy almost fell.

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Reviews

Praise for Dancer

"A beautiful, floating novel about Nureyev's life and art."--The New York Times Book Review

"Exuberant and exhilarating . . . A brilliant leap of imagination."--San Francisco Chronicle

"The goal of a book like this is to catch the spirit of the person and his age. It's a tall order, and one that Dancer pulls off brilliantly."--The Seattle Times

"Fascinating . . . A triumph of voice . . . McCann's fluid lyricism brilliantly convey's Nureyev's towering professional achievement and the wasteland of his personal life."--Newsday

"A monumental life . . . Stylistically, Dancer is a leap itself." --Los Angeles Times

"An engrossing portrait of a man so complex that no mere biography could possibly convey more than a sliver of his personality. . . . The Nureyev who strides impatiently through its pages seems entirely convincing." --Terry Teachout, The Baltimore Sun

"Every sentence sounds new and beautiful, no matter how often it's read."--USA Today

"Dancer is the most breathtaking tribute to Nureyev since Jamie Wyeth's famous paintings."--Esquire

"Dazzling . . . an intimate portrait . . . Dancer is bigger than the dance, bigger than biography, too. . . . Relish McCann's dizzy, fascinating glimpse."--Miami Herald

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About the Author

Colum McCann

COLUMN McCANN is the author of the novels This Side of Brightness, Zoli, and Songdogs, as well as two critically acclaimed story collections. He has received a Pushcart Prize, been an IMPAC finalist, and was named the first winner of the Grace Kelly Memorial Foundation Award and the Princess Grace Memorial Literary Award. He lives in New York City.

Colum McCann

Colum McCann

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Available Formats and Book Details

Dancer
A Novel
Colum McCann

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Picador
June 2009
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780312429027
ISBN10: 0312429029
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 352 pages
$16.00
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Hardcover

Learn more about this edition
Hardcover
Henry Holt and Co.
Metropolitan Books
January 2003
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780805067927
ISBN10: 0805067922
6 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches, 356 pages
$26.00

Trade Paperback

Learn more about this edition
Trade Paperback
Picador
February 2004
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780312423186
ISBN10: 0312423187
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 352 pages
$15.00
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