"Before his death a decade ago, ballet's queer blond bad boy, Rudolf Nureyev, was more outed than out. To the end, he denied he was dying of AIDS. His gay life was the stuff of supermarket tabloids and cheeky, cheesy gossip. So it's perhaps no surprise that there's a sniggering tone whenever this novel dwells on the sexual side of the dancer's stormy life – could be the author is reflecting perceived reality, or possibly it springs from a straight writer over-imagining an underground gay life. This is most breathlessly apparent in the chapter "New York, 1975," which consists, remarkably but readably, of a single sentence running on for 36 steamy, giddy, and - lurid pleasure alert - irresistibly riveting pages. Aside from his squishy take on queer life, though, McCann has crafted a fascinating chorus of characters, real (Margot Fonteyn, Mick Jagger) and imagined, to give vivid voice to his clever fictional biography. From its haunting opening pages - a bold 7-year-old dances in 1944 for weary, wounded Russian soldiers - to its melancholy ending, Dancer distills the startling life of a conflicted, driven genius with atmospheric style." Richard Labonte -- Books to Watch Out For
