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A review by frazzle
Dancer from the Dance by Andrew Holleran
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A Financial Times listicle is perhaps an unlikely place to be recommended Dancer from the Dance.
This book made me think and feel a lot of things. I've read books about the mid-century NY gay scene of the sociological variety. But this book - as fiction can - captured both the aesthetic and affect of that world, but also the philosophical and moral demands it made on (some of) its denizens.
It was also a life of such comprehensive renunciation of societal norms to be almost baffling. Bizarrely, however, the logic of capitalism remained, though operating on the currency of beauty (among other physical qualities...) instead of financial capital.
Besides all that, perhaps the funniest, most outrageous drag queen I've ever encountered in literature. Sutherland is an absolute riot.
This book made me think and feel a lot of things. I've read books about the mid-century NY gay scene of the sociological variety. But this book - as fiction can - captured both the aesthetic and affect of that world, but also the philosophical and moral demands it made on (some of) its denizens.
It was also a life of such comprehensive renunciation of societal norms to be almost baffling. Bizarrely, however, the logic of capitalism remained, though operating on the currency of beauty (among other physical qualities...) instead of financial capital.
Besides all that, perhaps the funniest, most outrageous drag queen I've ever encountered in literature. Sutherland is an absolute riot.