Dancer

Dancer

by Colum Mc Cann (Author)

Synopsis

This novel opens with a scene of war which is destined to become a classic: trudging back from the front through a ravaged and icy wasteland, their horses dying around them, their own hunger rendering them almost savage, the Russian soldiers are exhausted as they reach the city of Ufa, desperate for food and shelter. They find both, and then music and dance. And there, spinning unafraid among them, dancing for the soldiers and anyone else who'll watch him, is one small pale boy, Rudolf. This is Colum McCann's dancer. Rudolf, a prodigy at six years old, became the greatest dancer of the century, redefined dance, rewrote his own life, and died of AIDS before anyone knew he had it. This is an extraordinary life transformed into extraordinary fiction by one of the most acclaimed writers of his generation. One kind of masculine grace is perfectly matched to another in Colum McCann's beautiful and daring novel.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 291
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Published: 09 Jan 2003

ISBN 10: 1897580290
ISBN 13: 9781897580295
Book Overview: Translation rights in DANCER sold in France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain and Denmark. Reviews for EVERYTHING IN THIS COUNTRY MUST: 'The politicians sitting at Stormont would do well to read this collection' The Times 'What he does, with such elegance and courage, is show how difficult and frightening it is to live young in a country, crippled with hatred' Scotsman 'Colum McCann has produced the goods again in this marvellous book' Sunday Telegraph 'This is the most powerful evocation of imprisoned consciences that I have read outside the great Russians' Herald 'No more beautifully cadenced and moving collection of short fiction is likely to appear this year' Joyce Carol Oates in New York Review of Books

Media Reviews
A remarkable novel loosely based on the life of world famous dancer Rudolf Nureyev by the author of This Side of Brightness. Rudik, as the boy is called, appears at the beginning aged six, dancing for weary Russian troops trudging back from the front through a wasteland of ice and snow to the city of Ufa. We follow his life with his parents and his problems with the father who wanted him to become a military commissar. When he slunk off to watch ballet, his father beat him. This tale of the boy who became the greatest dancer in the world is made into fascinating fiction by a master craftsman.
Author Bio
Colum McCann was born in 1965. He has won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and been nominated for both the IRISH TIMES Fiction Prize and the Impac Prize. He has travelled widely and is currently based in New York with his wife and two young children.