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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The novel opens with a framing device: two unnamed men (implied to be part of the same gay circle) are corresponding, reflecting on the past and trying to piece together the life of Malone, the book’s central figure. One of them tells Malone’s story primarily through the perspective of Sutherland, an aging, witty, and cynical drag queen and socialite who befriends Malone and introduces him to the vibrant, chaotic world of gay New York in the 1970s.
Malone’s Early Life and Escape to New York
Malone is originally from the South — a Catholic boy with good looks, a reserved personality, and an inner intensity. After a brief stint working a conventional job as a lawyer and caring for his aging relatives, he becomes disillusioned with straight society and the emptiness of the respectable path laid out for him. He abandons that life and moves to New York in search of love, beauty, and a more authentic existence.
At first, Malone is naive but quickly becomes swept up in the city’s fast-paced gay scene, centered around cruising spots, nightclubs, bars, and Fire Island. Despite his inner romanticism and desire for genuine love, he finds that the scene thrives on fleeting physical encounters, performance, and spectacle. His beauty makes him instantly popular, but also isolates him — others project fantasies onto him rather than seeing who he truly is.
Sutherland and the World of the Dance
Malone’s guide and closest friend in this world is Sutherland, a wealthy, older man who has fully embraced the performative, decadent life of the urban gay social scene. Sutherland is witty, sharp, and dramatic — he doesn’t believe in romantic love but adores beauty and drama. He becomes Malone’s unofficial mentor and protector, ferrying him from club to club, introducing him to lovers, and helping sustain his lifestyle.
They spend their summers on Fire Island, an iconic gay enclave, where days blur into nights filled with dancing, drugs, and sex. There is a collective sense of ecstasy and freedom, but also emptiness — the community dances constantly, searching for connection, while rarely finding permanence.
Malone’s Lovers and Disillusionment
Throughout the novel, Malone has a number of relationships and sexual encounters, but none bring the emotional depth he longs for. He tries to connect deeply — he wants to be consumed by love — but the men he meets are either interested in his beauty, too caught in their own performance, or emotionally unavailable.
One key figure is Frankie, a rough, unpolished man from the Bronx who becomes Malone’s lover for a while. Their relationship is volatile and ends in disappointment, reinforcing Malone’s sense of futility in searching for true connection in a world built on surface and illusion.
As time goes on, Malone begins to deteriorate emotionally. His beauty starts to fade, he becomes addicted to the rhythms of nightlife and drugs, and he grows increasingly haunted by loneliness. He is aware that the dance — the constant pursuit of pleasure — cannot last forever, but he also sees no viable alternative.
Malone’s Disappearance
Eventually, Malone vanishes. Some say he died of an overdose. Others claim he went mad. There are rumors he fled to India or became a recluse. His disappearance adds to his legend, turning him into a tragic, mythical figure — the perfect embodiment of a generation caught between liberation and despair.
The novel closes with a return to the frame narrative. The correspondents reflect on Malone’s story, its beauty, sadness, and how he came to symbolize something larger than himself — the fleeting glory and deep melancholy of a community dancing on the edge of ruin.
Themes and Symbolism
• The “Dance”: Symbolizes the endless cycle of seeking love, beauty, and meaning in a world of surface pleasures and performances.
• Beauty and Decay: Malone’s physical beauty is both his gift and his curse; it grants access to the world he desires but ultimately alienates him from true connection.
• Community and Loneliness: Even in the heart of a vibrant social scene, the characters are deeply alone. The community offers ecstasy but not always intimacy.
• Tragedy of Idealism: Malone represents the romantic idealist undone by a world that doesn’t accommodate depth — a gay Gatsby haunted by dreams of love and meaning.
Final Note
Dancer from the Dance is less a plot-driven novel than a mood piece, written in lush, poetic prose. It captures a specific moment in gay history — a pre-AIDS era of sexual freedom, tinged with beauty and melancholy. It’s both a celebration of queer life and a meditation on its fragility.
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the experience reading this book was far more akin drinking. I just ingested it.
things that dissatisfied me about 'the swimming-pool library'', which I read earlier this year, where discussed and dealt with the far more successfully in this book.
things that dissatisfied me about 'the swimming-pool library'', which I read earlier this year, where discussed and dealt with the far more successfully in this book.
<i><blockquote>They faced each other at opposite ends of an illusion.</blockquote></i>A twin to <i>Faggots</i> with more sencerity (yet not lacking necessary bouts of levity). We follow two friends in an exchange of letters - one of whom remains within the party scene of queer NYC whilst the other seeks solace in rural areas. Within this narrative, one of them shares a novel he had written about their common obsession: Malone. Thus, we follow Malone from his coming out to turning into a NYC party scene establishment. Raw, emotional. At times, though, drawn out and meandering. Didn't fully click as much, as compared to some other gay novels of that time.
Vapid and overwritten. Way too often Holleran deploys words not to convey meaning but to paper over a lack thereof. The result is, if not purple, then at least lavender. His writing is a literary equivalent to standing alone in a room full of mirrors and lazily jerking off. Truly a monument to white gay culture.
And can I just say… “Nameless cocoa-colored boys” right after introducing a slew of completely irrelevant white characters by their full names? Are you fucking for real?
And can I just say… “Nameless cocoa-colored boys” right after introducing a slew of completely irrelevant white characters by their full names? Are you fucking for real?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Vivid depiction of 1970s gay New York City, the community, the seeking, the desire, the deception, the hiding, the freedom, the outsider-ness, the capitalist society conflict, the turmoil of all these things thrown together. Again, fiction that can convey a reality better than most nonfiction. The writing was lovey and evocative, but with a lot of description, a lot of simile, and a lot of listing of things, almost to the point of distraction. Still I liked this novel and I’m glad I read it.