After the Dance

My Life with Marvin Gaye

By: Jan Gaye

Narrated by: Robin Eller

Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dear Cary meets Confessions of a Video Vixen in this searing memoir of drugs, sex, and old school R&B from the wife of legendary soul icon Marvin Gaye.

On her 17th birthday in 1973, Janice Hunter met Marvin Gaye - the soulful prince of Motown with the seductive liquid voice whose chart-topping, socially conscious album What's Going On made him a superstar two years earlier. Despite a 16-year-age difference and Marvin's marriage to the sister of Berry Gordy, Motown's founder, the star-struck teenager and the emotionally volatile singer began a scorching relationship.

One moment Jan was studying high school history; the next she was accompanying Marvin to parties with other pop stars, lounging with Don Cornelius on the set of Soul Train, and helping to discover new talent like Frankie Beverly. But the distractions and burdens of fame, the chaos of dysfunctional families, and the irresistible temptations of drugs overshadowed the love they shared and their marriage disintegrated.

Silent since Marvin's tragic death in 1984, Jan at last opens up, sharing the moving, erotically charged story of one of music history's most fabled marriages. Unsparing in its honesty and insight, After the Dance reveals what it's like to ride shotgun on a wave of fame and self-destruction with a tortured genius who helped transform popular culture and whose artistry continues to be celebrated today.

©2015 Jan Gaye (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

Answered A Lot of questions and raised even more

Overall this was a great read. I was always intrigued about the relationship between Janis Hunter and Marvin Gaye. This book delivered on answering a lot of questions. I still love Marvin but even after reading Divided Soul, we can see that he was deeply troubled as the result of his brutally abusive childhood. I surely didn't know that he was molested as a child. That puts many of his issues into context. I would have liked to know more about Jan's feelings as she went through the extreme manipulation at Marvin's hands. Clearly, her abandonment issues, sexual abuse issues and physical abuse issues shaded her life as well. She barely touched on these things but it was good that she mentioned them to put some of her more self destructive decisions and actions into context. I have the audio book and will also be purchasing the hard cover for my library. This was the book I have waited years for and it will be a treasured addition to my library. Much love and respect to Janis Hunter for telling her story with the beautiful, fun, good, bad, truth it entails.....

No Good At All

Would you try another book from Jan Gaye and/or Robin Eller?

Never in a million years this seems like sensationalized view of her life with him. The storyline was boring after the first chapter. Never again would I try another book from her.

Has After the Dance turned you off from other books in this genre?

Almost, but not quite. I was a terrible book though. I would have liked to heard less about drug use and more about the artist.

What didn’t you like about Robin Eller’s performance?

Boring and not enough real detail. It was very hard to follow.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No

Any additional comments?

A total waste of time on this book.

Poor Marvin - literally

A lot of tea spilling in this story. Some things are better left unsaid - especially when a lot of the druggies and orgy participants are dead now. When I read a biography, I wonder sometimes why the author will go into such exhaustive detail. They did not enhance the story.- I found the repetitiveness of every detail of every conversation her and Marvin Gaye ever had to be boring. Also the reader was not the best: She had a robotic, pedantic style that was distracting. She was monotone and sometimes when she was quoting a conversation, I could not tell when she switched roles, so I'd have to re listen to figure out who was saying what. The book filled in a lot of blanks about Marvin, though. He was a tortured soul.

When the Dance is Over...

What made the experience of listening to After the Dance the most enjoyable?

Learning thing about Marvin Gaye's life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of After the Dance?

Even though it was sad but reading about Marvin's paranoia - his fear of performing live (who would have thought the man that sang sexual healing dealt with insecurity)

What about Robin Eller’s performance did you like?

Her voice was very calming. It felt as though Jan Gaye was reading the audiobook herself - Robin really connected with the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

When the Dance is Over...

Any additional comments?

Highly recommend!

Name Dropping

Jan Gaye spends a lot of time name dropping & telling who her drug buddies were back in the day. Also a lot of sexual encounter details that are really no value added.

A decent listen

I found this to be a sometimes difficult listen...Not because the story is bad, but because of the bad behavior of the people in the story. There are times when I felt disgusted by what I was hearing...from a mother basically setting her daughter up to be a whore to some rich old guys; to drugged out suggestions for orgies that otherwise make no sense. This is not a book for the faint of heart, but it is a book for those who want to hear the truth about a star they admire.

This Book Made Me Resent Janis Gaye..

Any additional comments?

This Book Was Enlighting To The Person Marvin Was And How He Wrote Such Powerful Music But First And Foremost Marvin Was Very Very Private And I Think She Disrespected His Memory By Writing This Book And Telling The Confidential Things He Told Her...She Was Very Self Absorbed But I'm Sure That Had Everything To Do With Her Down Spiraling Drug Addiction.. I Just Couldn't Picture Her Being Marvin Gaye's Muse..She Is So Transparent.. No Loyalty!

It's was a story told from her perpective

It was a good story.I realize now that he suffered from being Bipolar.Mental illness wasn't widely as discussed as it is now.It is tragic that he along with singers like Donnie Hathaway and Phyllis Hyman suffered from either depression,paranoia,and or being on the severe end of being bi-polar.Mental illness is still unfortunately ostracized in the african american community...Marvin's life was a classic case of being abused as a child and growing up with the pain.Then he had to deal with his own demons like we all do.It's a good but of course tragic story of the downward spiral of a musical genius.

Great story

Loved the story but didn't care for the narrator. Needed more emotion in the actual reading of story. I prefer when the actual Author narrate their own story. Other than that, it was a beautiful, but tragic love story.

cool audiobook.

Marvin Gaye was the MAN!!! HIS MUSIC IS INCREDIBLE!! a must read book and a must listen audiobook!!!