Dancer from the Dance (Plume)

by Andrew Holleran

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ALAN HOLLINGHURST

'Astonishingly beautiful... The best gay novel written by anyone of our generation' Harpers

'A life changing read for me. Describes a New York that has completely disappeared and for which I longed - stuck in closed-on-Sunday's London' Rupert Everett

Young, divinely beautiful and tired of living a lie, Anthony Malone trades life as a seemingly straight, small town lawyer for the disco-lit decadence of New York's 1970's gay scene. Joining an unbridled world of dance parties, saunas, deserted parks and orgies - at its centre Malone befriends the flamboyant queen, Sutherland, who takes this new arrival under his preened wing.

But for Malone, the endless city nights and Fire Island days, are close to burning out. It is love that Malone is longing for, and soon he will have to set himself free.

First published in 1978, Dancer from the Dance is widely considered the greatest, most exciting novel of the post-Stonewall generation. Told with wit, eroticism and unashamed lyricism, it remains a heart-breaking love letter to New York's hedonistic past, and a testament to the brilliance of our passions as they burn brightest.

• ISBN10: 055323708X
• ISBN13: 9780553237085
• Publish Date: 1 August 1979 (first published 1 May 1977)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 6 January 2005
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc
• Imprint: Bantam USA
• Edition: New edition
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[clementine]

Really well-written, but it feels self-indulgent and aimless. It's an interesting slice of gay history: post-Stonewall but pre-AIDS. I'm sure this would have been particularly groundbreaking when it was published. But the characters are not very likeable, there are a lot of racist and misogynistic ideas expressed unchallenged, and the whole thing seems like a pointless exercise in hedonism. This is like... the late 70s gay version of The Great Gatsby in some ways: unhappy privileged people partying and trying unsuccessfully to make meaningful connections, with the requisite tragic party at the end. There were certain scenes or phrases that were interesting, and it didn't feel like a chore to read like some books can, but I come away from it not feeling particularly moved.