Remembering Nureyev

[whetherwax]

I sometimes work in a bookshop and this book has just come in ($65 - phew) I've glanced at it and it certainly seems extremely interesting in the sense of a response to working with Nureyev and forming a friendship with him. The difficulties for choreographers working with him and the feverish pace of his working life are all elucidated. As I say, it is very expensive and i have had only brief looks. I'm surprised that I can find no discussion of this book on this site.

[kfw]

Thank you very much for posting, whetherwax. I don't know why the shop you work in wants $65 for this book when it's listed for only $35. In fact, Amazon is selling it much cheaper (and purchases through the link at the top of this page benefit this site).

Here's an excerpt of a review in the California Literary Review.

On one side of the divide is van Dantzig, an intellectual interested in pushing the boundaries of avant garde and modern art, a phlegmatic, almost introspective narrator, a man accustomed to order, a splash of pale blue. On the other, Nureyev, the lover of classic showpieces, the Tatar who delights in romanticism and spectacle, the scarlet streak who thrills, dramatically, to the business of living.

.

Another excerpt: Nureyev could be a royal pain, but

there is also a willing listener here, a man moved to tears by Mozart, a generous host, and a sympathetic soul:

It was amazing how amiable and open he was in those hours, seeming to understand my creative dilemmas, how I was wrestling with the music, the large number of dancers, the laborious arrangements at the Opera which caused me to suffer from a constant lack of time, and he even seemed to understand my displeasure at his own early-morning whims.

[dirac]

whetherwax, I think another topic was begun in the Dancers forum, with a link to the article in the California Literary Review, which was also posted in our Links some time ago. Sometimes threads on new books don't appear immediately, as it takes some time for people to get to them. My nearby bookstore has a copy on sale for $35, which is not too bad.

[Barbara]

Yes kfw, I just ordered "Remembering Nureyev" from Amazon at $23.07 (don't ask me how they come up with that odd figure?!?) and by adding the Toni Bentley "Winter Season", which I've never read, I was eligible for free shipping - can't beat that!

[carbro]

whetherwax, I think another topic was begun in the Dancers forum, with a link to the article in the California Literary Review, which was also posted in our Links some time ago. Sometimes threads on new books don't appear immediately, as it takes some time for people to get to them. My nearby bookstore has a copy on sale for $35, which is not too bad.

Whetherwax writes from Australia, and I just ran a conversion query. It turns out that $66 Au = $25 US. Of course, this is very approximate and always fluctuating, but it seems whetherwax did better through her merchant than a shopper at the bookstore dirac cites.

In order to avoid two parallel threads, I will close this thread and ask members to post on the earlier thread for this book.