Dancer: A NovelFrom the acclaimed author of This Side of Brightness, the epic life and times of Rudolf Nureyev, reimagined in a dazzlingly inventive masterpiece-published to coincide with the tenth anniversary of Nureyev's death A Russian peasant who became an international legend, a Cold War exile who inspired millions, an artist whose name stood for genius, sex, and excess-the magnificence of Rudolf Nureyev's life and work are known, but now Colum McCann, in his most daring novel yet, reinvents this erotically charged figure through the light he cast on those who knew him. Taking his inspiration from the biographical facts, McCann tells the story through a chorus of voices: there is Anna Vasileva, Rudi's first ballet teacher, who rescues her protégé from the stunted life of his town; Yulia, whose sexual and artistic ambitions are thwarted by her Soviet-sanctioned marriage; and Victor, the Venezuelan hustler, who reveals the lurid underside of the gay celebrity set. Spanning four decades and many worlds, from the horrors of Stalingrad 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, Margot Fonteyn 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. In ecstatic prose, McCann evokes the distinct consciousness of the man and the glittering reflection of the myth. The result is a monumental story of love, art, and exile. |
Contents
Section 1 | 1 |
Section 2 | 5 |
Section 3 | 65 |
Section 4 | 115 |
Section 5 | 121 |
Section 6 | 165 |
Section 7 | 208 |
Section 8 | 221 |
Section 10 | 263 |
Section 11 | 297 |
Section 12 | 311 |
Section 13 | 332 |
Section 14 | 335 |
Section 15 | |
Section 16 | |
Section 9 | 253 |
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Common terms and phrases
Anna arette asked ballet bath beautiful began Belaya River body Caracas champagne cigarette coat Colum McCann Covent Garden dance dance belt dancers dark door driver Emilio Erik eyes face father feel feet felt fingers floor fucking glass hair hand head heard Ilya Iosif Karl Marx Kirov kissed Kolya laughed leaned legs Leningrad live looked Margot Margot Fonteyn Monsieur morning Moscow mother Motherland is benevolent Motherland is strong Motherland will protect move neck never night nodded Nureyev Nuriya once Opera House pulled Pushkin rehearsal RosaMaria Rudi Rudi's Rudik Rudolf Nureyev Saint Petersburg says seemed shirt shit shoes shoulder shouted sleep smiled steps stood street talked Tamara Tatar taxi tell thing thought told took tram turned Victor vodka waiting walked wanted watched whispered window woman wonderful young Yulia