Has BA turned its back on Toni Bentley?

[Farrell Fan]

I searched today's links in vain for one to the review of "The Surrender" in the NY Times Book Review. Granted, the subject of Bentley's book is not ballet, but does that mean BA will ignore it? I can't help thinking of the various athletes accused of rape or murder whom the Times stubbornly reports on in their Sports Section. Bentley's "sin" is much less serious, and she is identified with ballet, NYCB, Balanchine, Farrell, etc. Her new book, unpleasant though its subject may seem, is news. Incidentally, the TBR review is by no means favorable, and, in fact, caused me to hesitate in my decision to read the book. Hesitate, but not flip-flop, I'm going to the Amazon banner up top here right now.

[Ed Waffle]

Not providing a link to the review of Toni Bentley's new book is not turning one's back on her. If Bentley wrote a book that traced the history of flower arranging as an indicator of class status and that was reviewed in the NYT it may also not be considered germane to this site. Since this site is devoted to classical ballet and the subject of the book in question has nothing to do with ballet, letting people find the book on their own may be the best course of action--or inaction.

Of the works mentioned in the Times review as making up, along with "The Surrender", of "a small but pungent subgenre of extreme female confession", I have read the one by Katha Pollitt a writer who I have long admired. I tried (although not very hard) to read the "memoirs" of Catherine M, but a few pages here and there were enough. Bentley's new book seems from this review to fall between those two--better than something to glance through at Barnes and Noble but not quite intriguing enough to make it to the top of my reading list.

[Farrell Fan]

Thanks for the response, Ed. Before publication, Toni Bentley's book had already been a subject of discussion on this site. So one might reasonably have expected that a link to the Times review would have been provided now that the book is out.

[Alexandra]

There's no corporate plot, no government censorship, no boycott Although we have two loyal, dedicated, hardworking volunteers who take on the task of combing through reams of articles to try to find news and reviews to post, sometimes they miss something. But anyone is welcome to post a link on that forum, and people often do. If you'd like to post a link, FF, please feel free!

[Farrell Fan]

Ari posted the link, so now I'm happy. Ballet Alert is the best!