Dancer from the Dance: A Landmark Gay Novel of 1970s New York

I first saw "Dancer from the Dance" at a bookstore in a mall in Modesto California, an agricultural town in the heart of California's big valley. The cover had a blonde man wearing jeans, and a smile; he was shirtless. I remember being nervous, yet excited by the prospect that this might actually be about gay people; I was 21 years old, and there were few if any gay men I wanted to emulate, it was 1979. I was searching for my people, a way of life, a path to take: I realized that I wasn't alone. I was a bit self-conscious at my boldness as I placed the book on the counter, but the cashier was nonplussed. As I read, I entered a world that was completely foreign to me, and although I didn't aspire to be any of the characters in the novel, I wanted a life vastly different than the one I had, and I was shown that I had not only options but 'family' waiting for me. I have read 'Dancer' so many times that I have lost count. I would purchase the book and then give it to others to read. Holleran's prose is astonishingly gorgeous; perhaps the best in American writing. He has an eye for detail, an open heart and a wit to match his writing talent; NOBODY writes better: they may write differently but not better. His prose is hypnotic, and one is held prisoner by it so much so that it haunts the reader, even after one puts the book down. He recites a tale, and through his descriptive expertise, we are able to feel it, imagine it, acquiesce to it, and live it right along with him;…

I read this once before years ago as a younger man. It captured my imagination and made NYC very alluring to me. It vividly describes gay male life in the era just before disco became a national sensation and gay lib was about to show some real muscle. I like the writing, although there were details in the action that sometimes defied belief, particularly regarding the tragi-comedic character Sutherland. Neither of the major characters in the book are gainfully employed, at least in a traditional sense. Made me wonder how Sutherland survived and was able to be such a socialite and pull off so many outlandish (and expensive?) fetes. I enjoyed Sutherland's character but was somewhat more baffled by Malone. I wanted to see him as the romantic innocent he was presented as being. He is described as having all the things homosexuals most value: handsome face, great body, impressive endowment, yet he seemed to trivialize sex to an extraordinary degree and then wax melancholic over not having found his soul mate. He supposedly is seeking love and romance, but he seemed magnetized to a rather seedy style of sexuality that even included his becoming an escort. He also seemed prone to a variety of romanticized or bizarre fantasies about his own place in this world. Instead of pursuing any of these callings he is drawn into a rather seedy style of sexual behavior. My only remaining thought about Malone after reading this novel for the second time was "Wow, was he screwed up or what?!"…