Dancing at the Rascal Fair

By: Ivan Doig

Narrated by: Robert Ian MacKenzie

Length: 19 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Dancing at the Rascal Fair by National Book Award nominee Ivan Doig, captures the passion and tenacity of turn-of-the-century immigrants struggling to build new lives amidst Montana’s windswept Rockies. The tale unfolds into a contest of the heart between Anna Ramsay and Angus McCaskill—kept apart by obligations—as they and their stormy kin vie to tame the brutal land.

©1987 Ivan Doig (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

“Magnificent… Dancing at the Rascal Fair establishes its author in the front ranks of contemporary American writers.” ( Seattle Times)

"The settlement of Montana between 1890 and 1919 is recounted through the quiet but compelling life of Angus McCaskill, a young Scotsman who travels with his friend Rob Barclay to Montana's Two Medicine Country to homestead. Doig writes fervently of the voyage from Scotland and the lean first years, as the two share the work and hardship of establishing claims and building up flocks of sheep. He tells of their separate marriages, the severing of their friendship, and the final resolution of their conflict through death. Doig successfully recaptures the violence of the Montana elements and the staunch heritage of the Scottish settlers." ( Library Journal)

My favorite story!

Great reader for a grand story! I'm soon on the the second of the trilogy.

Not as good as Whistling Season

This is an enjoyable book with lots of memorable characters. Plot wise it’s kinda slow, but if you like a character-driven novel with an interesting setting and historical background, you’ll probably like this book. The reader is fantastic. His Missouri voice is spot-on.

An all-time favorite

A beautifully written and narrated book that leaves me missing the characters and their lives, wishing there could be more. Doig did a masterful job creating his characters and their truly believable stories. I savored every moment and never felt the pace was too slow. It made me happy, it made me sad, it made me want more. I will definitely read another of Doig's books. Narrator was wonderful, too.

Very well written. Very frustrating story.

Almost every sentence is interesting, with unique wording or turns of phrases throughout. One of the opening scenes of a cart horse falling into a Scottish bay and drowning was horrifying, colorful, and even morbidly humorous in the way onlookers joke about it. I was hooked from the beginning, ready for a rollicking story of Angus's journey and creating a new life in rugged Montana with his BFF Rob.
But the story doesn't deliver. Too much of the tale is told from inside Angus's head - his feelings, his memories, snippets of remembered poems and songs. By the second half of the novel we are even treated to Angus's remembered dialogue from the first half of the novel (really). Eventually much needed tension is introduced to the story when Anna (Angus's fiancé) tells him she has been horsing around with Isaac the horse trader, and that they will soon be hitched. But now Angus mopes and yearns for Anna the rest of the novel. And the reader is treated to even more of Angus's remembered dialogue with Anna from earlier parts of the story (yawn). Since he can't have Anna, Angus marries Adair (Rob's little sister who has since immigrated to Montana). As Adair is painfully aware, she is not Angus's first choice. Don't feel bad for her though, she has the annoying habit of referring to herself in the third person.
Ironically, the story ends with another drowning horse, this time taking Rob down with it. Don't feel bad for Rob though, by the end of the novel he has turned into a complete ass. The horse seemed decent enough.
Shout out to to some memorable characters: Ninian Duff (not affiliated with Duff Beer), Lucas, the hands-off bartender, and Toussaint, the half breed bar hand.
I'm partial to historical fiction, and I enjoyed the parts having to do with Scottish immigration to the US, sheep farming, the advent of the US Park Service, and the impact WW1 had on US soldiers and their families.
Overall though, this was a very unsatisfying story, but well told, if that makes sense.

Terrific Book

This was the first Ivan Doig book I've read or listened to, and I really enjoyed it. The narrator was terrific, and the author's writing style is wonderful!

Excellent Read--My First Five Star Review!!

My father was born in Montana, so I had heard of Ivan Doig but never read any of his work. This is the story of two young Scotsmen and their lives over more than a quarter of a century as they homestead in the Two Medicine country of Montana. The story is good, but the reading by Robert Ian MacKenzie is what really made this one of the most powerful books I have heard since joining Audible. His ability to provide a variety of different voices made the characters come alive. Highly recommended.

Great story of love and loss

Narrator did a nice job. Great story line. Highly recommend great mix of historical facts.

I Loved This Book

This is a low-key, kind of slow-moving (in a good way) book, but it is a well-written, engaging story of human life. Despite its length, I was sorry when it was over. My only complaint was that I found the sort of Gone-With-The-Wind ongoing "love" story a bit overblown but that is a very minor complaint. This was a very good listen and I highly recommend it.

Overall it was wonderful.

What did you love best about Dancing at the Rascal Fair?

Great experience and in new history for me. Times were slow but overall sweet an enjoyable.

If you have ever been in Montana...

As others mentioned, this book has a bit of a slow start, but is so evocative of Northern Montana. Wonderful descriptions, interesting history. The underlying "love story" is somewhat irritating, but the relationships among the other characters are complex and keep the story alive