Dancer from the Dance

A Novel

By: Andrew Holleran

Narrated by: David Pittu

Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Now in audio for the first time! Award-winning actor and two-time Tony Award nominee David Pittu narrates one of the most influential books in gay literature.

Andrew Holleran's Dancer from the Dance defined gay life in late 1970s New York. Published in 1978, the novel captures the time post-Stonewall and pre-AIDS where sexual freedom was celebrated and the future appeared limitless.

"An astonishingly beautiful book. The best gay novel written by anyone of our generation" —Harpers

"A life changing read for me. Describes a New York that has completely disappeared and for which I longed." —Rupert Everett

Young, divinely beautiful and tired of living a lie, Anthony Malone trades life as a seemingly straight, small town lawyer for the disco-lit decadence of New York’s gay scene. An unbridled world of dance parties, saunas, deserted parks and orgies—at its center Malone befriends the flamboyant, Sutherland, who takes this new arrival under his preened wing.

But for Malone, the endless city nights and Fire Island days, are close to burning out. It is love that Malone is longing for, and soon he will have to set himself free.

"The story of youth and beauty and money and drugs. But overarchingly…the story of a new queer future" —Michael Cunningham

A Macmillan Audio production.

©1978 Andrew Holleran (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Exquisite

The reader was wonderful. Having read this book in the 70's, I loved how the characters came alive in the reading. I lived in NYC during those days and Andrew captured that moment in time so perfectly. So very rich writing!!

🥰🥹😭❤️🤩🤯

An absolutely beautiful love story with a history lesson every gay would be enriched by listening to. the narrator is the best I've ever heard, he adds exquisite flair to all the characters.

Brilliant!

A Must read (listen), for gay men and those that love them. The imagery created by the voice of David Pittu is remarkable.

What a beautiful

Magical, melancholy book. Not tragic, not sad for we know how the world has changed since it was written.

Excellent

Performance was absolutely superb; I felt as if I once knew the characters in a former life.

Best Audible Book in my Library

This Audible production makes me want to gush superlatives like a confetti cannon. It’s amazing and spectacular in ever aspect. How did it take me until 2022 to discover this masterpiece that was first published when I was in high school? I just now finished re-listening to it a third time through. The narrator brings to life this entire parade of characters with such clarity that I was drawn into their tale of doomed and handsome youths in the most magical city on Earth during its decadent, disco heyday. That we have Andrew Holleran still alive and writing is enough for me to believe in miracles. This book definitely is one. Enjoy!

Don’t listen if you’re thinking about suicide

An absolutely dreadful telling of gay life in 1970s NYC, where all gay men are soulless queens only looking for their next encounter with a beautiful Puerto Rican boy, for their next high or their next lay, preferably all three at the same time and in front of an audience. This is a story about how all homosexuals are nothing but prostitutes, drug addicts and sex fiends who stay up all night dancing and vacation all summer long on Fire Island being prostitutes, sex addicts and drug fiends who want to show off every single one of their vices on the dance floor every single night until they are so sick of themselves they’re actually happy summer is over. Then all homosexuals get old and realize how shallow and empty their lives have been and how few meaningful connections they’ve made with others. They grow depressed and eventually this story becomes one of how all homosexuals die either of a drug overdose or by suicide. Or they just disappear after realizing the terrible lifestyle choice they made when they were young and handsome and had not yet contracted venereal warts.

Better on the page

This is, no doubt, an important book, when it comes to queer lit. Is it perfect? Of course not. Is it politically correct in 2022? Of course not. Does it give people a glimpse into a world, a place, and a time they probably know nothing about? Definitely. My only real complaint about this, having previously read the actual, hard-bound book, is that the reading is, in some places, cringe-worthy. The reader's interpretation of Sutherland sounds like a combination of the snake from The Little Prince and Liberace. I feel like there is definitely a way to read this character's part in a way that makes it clear he's an extremely flamboyant, haughty gay man without making him sound like a Disney villainess. I knew men like this in the 70s. I had an uncle like this. He wasn't a weird, slithery caricature. His reading of some of the other characters also bothers me. It's as if the actor has the idea that the characters are either creepy weirdos or green-behind-the-ears, completely child-like innocents. It's a shame, because the reading of the narrative elements, when we're not dealing with dialogue, is very good.