Customer Reviews

The Fancy Dancer: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first time I read this book, I was a confused struggling young man trying to make sense of his sexuality...much like Tom Meeker only without the collar. Now, 24 years later...I'm the priest still struggling to make sense of his sexuality and of love. This book, so poingantly describes the struggle that many of us in the priesthood must contend with as we live closeted lives. Unlike Tom Meeker, I chose to leave rather than stay...but there are many more who have been able to endure issues that Patrician Nell Warren so very accurately and sensitively wrote about in the book. While it is listed as "fiction", there is more truth in these pages than meet the eye. It touched me as well being a native american as I could grasp the world of Fr. Tom AND his lover, Vidal. TEN stars...not just FIVE.

As a gay jewish man, I was intrigued by this book by PatriciaNell Warren. The love that the priest finds with the title character,The Fancy Dancer (you'll have to read it to know what it means - I'm not saying), is so overwhelming that it reminded me of my own coming out a few years ago. While it is not a celebratory happy ending, the book leaves you with the feeling that the men involved here are on teh right track. I have to admit, I'm hoping Ms. Warren revists these characters and writes a sequel like she did with The Front Runner series.

In 1954 I was stationed with the U.S. Navy in the Washington, D.C. area. While I was on duty one rainy evening in August, a captain in the Medical Corp. was billeted in the brig awaiting trial on charges of having sexual relations with an enlisted man. This medical doctor had been in the Navy for most of his adult life. He knew the consequences if he was caught in a homosexual act. Instead of waiting for the trial, the dignified doctor lay down on his narrow cot, poured lighter fluid over himself and lit a match. When I saw his charred body, brig personnel had carried his remains to the sidewalk where a damp summer wind carried the stench over the whole Naval complex. As I stood over the charred bones, I wondered what caused a man to commit an act that would cause him if caught to take his own life. Also, I made a vow that evening that if I could do anything to change public opinion that caused this decorated captain to take his life. I would. Patricia Nell Warren, authoress of the Fancy Dancer, has given me a keen insight into a young priest who risked being defrocked because of his touching love for a degenerate young man. This story appalled me at times, but yet I thank a writer who tells a touching story, in a manner that made it impossible to put the novel down before I read the last word. Patricia, thank you for giving me an understanding insight into the Gay lifestyle. Luther Butle

Father Tom Meeker relishes his work at the little parish in Cottonwood, MT, listening to confessions, participating with the church council, feeling grateful to spread God's word. Then, a young Blackfoot Indian named Vidal Stump enters his confessional. A bit wild in his ways and comfortable with his homosexuality, Vidal takes Father Tom on a journey of discovery and reveals to him what he's been trying to hide for a long time.

"The Fancy Dancer" is by no means a tawdry tale of homosexual love. The relationship between Father Tom and Vidal is played out very realistically, dealing not only with their interactions with others but with their inner struggles with themselves. They truly do love each other in every sense of the word.

Warren makes Father Tom's struggles to reconcile his new-found self, tinged by his own feelings guilt, with his love of the Church the center of the novel, revealing insight into the attitudes of the Church toward homosexuality. Surprisingly enough for a novel from 1976, it is very relevant with the state of the world today. And, what I really liked is that this is a positive novel, without the stereotypical ending with death or suicide.

I first read the book eleven years ago and have never been able to resist rereading it time and time again. It has been a constant source of strength and inspiration for me and, being the first "gay" novel I read, keeps moving me the way no other gay novel I have read since has moved me.

Its tale of a confused priest torn between his love for a secretly-gay town loner and his love of the priesthood precisely bares the torment of the many who must decide between what they believe is right for themselves and what society decrees is right, period. The joy of reading the book lies in the absence of political bitching and religious sermonizing. It is a thoroughly readable book, and you don't know that the punches have just been delivered.

At its simplest, the novel is a romance -- a classic novel about forbidden love. At its most compelling, it is a manual for those who believe that it is possible to live and be true to their hearts

I am unsure how to begin to describe the remarkably detailed and conflicted world that Father Meeker lives in a small parish in Montana as a good-hearted, warm, dedicated priest who discovers, almost by accident, that he is gay and falls, tragically, for the one other gay guy in town that might be around his age and station in life.

Once this revelation occurs, the bleeding starts in Father Meeker's mind about what this means to his faith, his appointment, his parishoners, and ultimately his life. The boyfriend, Vidal, is nearly equally as interesting and conflicted, and their relationship is both a joy to experience and ultimately somewhat painfully realistic.

This novel was written in the '70s, but doesn't have as many allusions to the specific time period as The Front Runner: A Novel and therefore suffers less distraction from the differences in time and culture.

I am sure that if you aren't familiar with "church things" then you might not fully appreciate all the tortured guilt and conflict between Father Meeker, his senior pastor, his boyfriend, his faith, and his community. As a (protestant) pastor's son, and gay to boot, this novel hit me like a ton of bricks. It's truly wonderful and interesting, the characters are real and developed, and the conflict is real and no less pertinent today than it was several decades ago. By the number of reviews listed here, I can surmise that this is an under-appreciated book.

If you like religious themes, gay themes, or both, or if you just like Patricia Nell Warren or have enjoyed her other books, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy. I hope you relish the story and pay attention to all the layered details and rich desciptions of the beauty and the frustrations of human relationships, even among those who feel called to serve God. Enjoy.

Tom Meeker, tall, blonde and handsome, in his late twenties, is in his second year of the priesthood serving in small town Cottonwood, Montana. Unaware of his sexuality, he is at first puzzled over his feelings for the good looking young half-breed drop out Vidal Stump (the Fancy Dancer) who comes to him for confession. The two strike up a friendship as Tom sees there is much more to Vidal than the drunken brawler, despite the disapproval of Tom's superior Father Vance. But when the inevitable occurs Tom is thrown into turmoil about his calling and his sexuality, and fearful that he will be found out as gay in the small community of Cottonwood.

However with Vidal's help Tom finds help in the form of a group of disaffected Catholics in Denver who are working to aid other Catholic gays. But will Tom be able to remain in the priesthood, and what of the long term prospects for him and Vidal?

The Fancy Dancer is an interesting story, but I had to keep reminding myself that this was written in 1976 to avoid it seeming rather naive at times. Both Tom and Vidal are interesting, appealing yet very different characters, the other characters are well drawn and there is a good sense of place. The dilemma's facing Tom are well thought through, and the story has a satisfying conclusion.

I found this book by accident when travelling across country with my mom as a young teen -- it was tucked away in some "reading books" in an off-the-beaten-path motel we stayed in and I found it (was it really by accident?). The book was riveting and intense to a young man discovering his sexuality and I couldn't put it down. I am thrilled to have found it again and think it could make an ideal "Brokeback"-esque movie on the indi films circuit.

Patricia Nell Warren gets into the psyche of the clergy and the soul of the rural gay man in this novel. I felt the things she wrote, I knew the things she speaks of. Montana sings here and the Roman Catholic clergy are beautifully and truthfully represented. I know. I've been there. Almost word for word.
Warren's prose works. Her descriptions are beautiful and accurate, and her heart is truly represented here- her love for Montana and the spiritual seeker are undeniable-and that's what makes this novel great.

'The Fancy Dancer', written back in the 1970s, explores the world of a young clergyman in Montana coming to grips with his gay feelings. He meets a half-Indian macho man who sweeps him off his feet. But things get complicated...

Okay, this does sound like a soap opera. But the author did a good job framing the story and introducing the main characters. And she also succeeds in describing life in rural Montana. Unfortunately the author takes short cuts in the areas of human emotion. What should have been very moving vignettes turned out to rather banal. I didn't *feel* the emotional trauma of the leading characters.


Bottom line: a noble effort that would have turned out better in the hands of a better writer.