Family Dancing [Hardcover]

David Leavitt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 1984

Tender, unsettling, and amusing, these stories present families all unhappy in their own different ways. A mother who presides over her local Parents of Lesbians and Gays chapter has trouble accepting her son's lover. A recently separated couple's compulsion to maintain a twenty-six-year tradition seems to magnify futility. The New York Times called this collection "astonishing - funny, eloquent, and wise."

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Astonishing -- funny, eloquent, and wise." (The New York Times ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

David Leavitt's first collection of stories, Family Dancing, was published when he was just twenty-three and was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Faulkner Prize. The Lost Language of Cranes was made into a BBC film, and While England Sleeps was short-listed for the Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize. With Mark Mitchell, he coedited The Penguin Book of Short Stories, Pages Passed from Hand to Hand, and cowrote Italian Pleasures. Leavitt is a recipient of fellowships from both the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. He divides his time between Italy and Florida. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 205 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (August 12, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394538722
• ISBN-13: 978-0394538723
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,658,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars early Leavitt work shows some brilliance..., December 22, 2002

By 

lazza (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Family Dancing (Paperback)

'Family Dancing' is a collection of short stories written by David Leavitt when he was in his early twenties. It is remarkable thata young man can write with such sensitivity. The prose is very fluid, and the characterizations are quite realistic. Quite remarkable considering these are *short* stories, not novels. However these stories are somewhat uneven in their overall quality, and I think I know why.

David Leavitt is best known for writing gay fiction. In 'Family Dancing' about a third of the stories are gay-themed. But I find the gay characters in these stories, and even in his fine novel 'The Lost Language of Cranes', to be very two-dimensional. However Leavitt's observations of parents coping with dysfunctional lives, marriages, and children to be most affecting. In 'Family Dancing' there are a couple of simply wonderful, extremely moving stories about people living with cancer. These stories alone are worth the price of this book.

Bottom line: a mixed bag containing treasures. Recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the family exposed, November 16, 2000

By 

M. H. Bayliss "book queen" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Family Dancing (Paperback)

Reading these poignant stories is like watching 15 or so different versions of American Beauty. Beneath the surface in almost every family lie illness, infidelity, betrayals and anger. This is his first collection of stories and they make for an excellent collection. I had read his later books first like The Lost Language of Cranes which I think are stronger overall, but as a first collection, these stories are revealing.

Leavitt has a knack for exposing the underside of family relations. Many of his stories focus on husbands who leave their wives, but just as many focus on the effect these family disputes have on the children. Overall, these stories will leave you with a feeling of sadness -- he touches many nerves from cancer to men coming to terms with their sexuality, to abandoned sisters and brothers. I think Leavitt is a very sensitive writer with an eye for the problems that plague 20th century families.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Collection of Short Stories About Gay Men, June 5, 2009

By 

Bonnie Brody "Book Lover and Knitter" (Port St. Lucie, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Family Dancing (Paperback)

This book is a wonderful collection of short stories about gay men. It is much more articulate and well-crafted that Leavitt's novel The Lost Language of Cranes: A Novel. I especially enjoyed 'Aliens', 'Danny in Transit' and 'Territory'. My favorite story in the collection was 'Dedicated', about a young woman who is drawn to, and used as a buffer, by two gay men.