Dancer from the Dance

I enjoyed this and I'm glad I read it, but the book is a bit of a mess. Lots of very florid prose, and a narrative that at times lost me. Maybe my reading comprehension skills are at fault more than the writing.

What's fantastic about this book is its depiction of gay New York life in the 70s. Fiercely queer, hilarious, a little tragic. And absolutely unapologetic. What a bolt of lightning this book must have been when it came out!

And it really is very well written. It has more than a little of a Death in Venice vibe to me, Malone's slow descent into a debauched life. Only way more witty and fun and sexy. And I loved a lot of the writing style even if it did seem awfully wrought. Without that it would have been a much more ordinary book. Sutherland in particular is fantastically characterized by his outlandish soliloquies.

I wonder how relatable this novel is for The Young People these days. I recognize the world described, it was the generation older than me when I was growing up gay. But now it's 40-50 years in the past. And there's more than a little uncomfortably racist and misogynist text in it. Mostly though this book is so rooted in the alienating sense of being queer and other, removed from ordinary society. That's much less a feature of American gay life now, particularly in a city like New York.

For reference, here is the NYT review from 1979.