Customer Reviews

Death Dance

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Stories of morbid irony. Trevanian began assembling these from far-flung old friends when he became acutely aware he was dying himself.

That most ridiculous, conspicuously innocent human activity dancing is the theme of these stories by friends of Rodney Whitaker, and each voice is a welcome treasure and introduction to the underappreciated and obscure. A pity, in a better world these writers would be as famous as Trevanian himself, which is perhaps why it was his parting gift to his friends: a final use for the pseudonym that both gave him liberty and become an ironic collar.

Trevanian fans ("the `Others'") tend to be well-read and enjoy the clever pointers to themes of literature and her history in his works. Writers here range from Raymond Carver influenced to demi-monde baroque (although with the patina of Damascus steel).

A bittersweet treasure.

The stories in this last book are so awful, so poorly written or trite in nature or both, that you wish Trevanian had been content to go out with some dignity if nothing else. This book bites, sorry, and there's nothing that will help it. It made me so disgusted with myself for buying it I waited four days after finishing it, thinking I would change my mind about writing the review. However, anyone who has enjoyed the writer's stories deserves to be warned off this garbage collection.
pat chapin