The Next Step in the Dance [Hardcover]

Tim Gautreaux (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1998

Paul Thibodeaux is an handsome young man married to Colette, the most beautiful woman in the small Louisiana town where they grew up. For Paul, life is complete: a wife he loves, machines to repair, and a lively local dance hall. But Colette wants more, and when she sets off for California in search of a better life, Paul follows her there and back, waiting to see if she'll change her mind about him. In the meantime, the oil bust of the '80's has destroyed their hometown, and Paul and Colette must salvage not only their marriage but their livelihoods. How they do this, and come to realize the importance of family, home, and marriage, makes for a novel that is at once an adventure, a love story, and moving portrait of a place and a culture rarely explored in contemporary fiction.

Tim Gautreaux writes with wit, compassion, and a sharp eye for the details that make us who we are, where we are. His first novel is the triumphant confirmation of the talent so widely acclaimed in SAME PLACE, SAME THINGS.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gautreaux's powerful, character-driven debut novel breathes new life into the theme of mismatched lovers. Paul and Colette Thibodeaux have nothing in common: he's a machinist with apparently no ambition other than jitterbugging and bar fighting; she is a bank teller who longs for the good life in Southern California. After they separate, she escapes from their small Louisiana bayou town to the land of her dreams. Paul follows her to L.A., where his skill in maintaining and repairing antiquated machinery lands him the highest paying job of his life. However, California turns sour for both Colette and Paul, who eventually return, separately, to their hometown of Tiger Island. In the short time they have been away, the oil industry has flattened out, and many of the town's businesses are as bust as their marriage. The novel's triumph is its sense of community--unforgettable characters in a setting that is at once familiar and exotic--and how that sense can overcome the hazards of life. Frank Caso

From Kirkus Reviews

An entertaining and immensely likable debut novel, set mostly in Louisiana's southwestern Gulf Stream area, from the talented Gautreaux (stories: Same Place, Same Things, 1996). When beautiful and brainy Colette Jeansomme marries good- looking Paul Thibodeaux (who's also a terrific dancer and the best damn mechanic in the pair's hometown of Tiger Island), their friends are sure it's the perfect match. But Colette tires of her unfulfilling bank teller's job and can't tolerate Paul's enthusiastic participation in the cult of Saturday night fistfighting or his habit of dancing (and, she suspects, enjoying further intimacies) with other womennot to mention his perfect satisfaction with his job (``He has no ambition,'' she complains. ``Fifty years from now he'll still be knee-deep in machine oil''). Threatening divorce, Colette flees to California, followed soon afterward by the contrite yet still feisty Paul. More complications in their stormy relationship, coupled with the inability of each to adapt to West Coast work- and life-styles, send them separately back to Tiger Island and a succession of crises (including Colette's encounter with a cottonmouth moccasin and Paul's perilous adventures both with an overheated boiler and a shrimp boat caught in a storm) that end with the two back where we know they've belonged from the beginning: together, whether they drive each other crazy or not. Though it's more than a little overplotted, Gautreaux's pitch-perfect account of the Thibodeauxes' bumpy road to love is powered by abundant energy and charm and by a townful of vividly rendered supporting characters (Paul's laconic reality instructors, his father and grandfather, lead a memorable parade of locals). And the story is set in a workingman's world that's fully, credibly, and (to the nonmechanical reader) sometimes even confusingly detailed. As a storyteller, and especially as one with such a good eye for character, Gautreaux looks like one of the best writers to have emerged in the 1990s. A fine first novel. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: Picador USA; 1st Picador USA ed edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312181434
• ISBN-13: 978-0312181437
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #524,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tim Gautreaux is the author of two previous novels and two collections of stories. His work has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Harper's Magazine, and The New Yorker, as well as in volumes of the O. Henry and The Best American Short Story annuals. A professor emeritus in English at Southeastern Louisiana University, he lives with his family in Hammond.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book., December 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Next Step in the Dance (Hardcover)

While browsing through the new-fiction shelf at my local library, I stumbled across a familiar name...Tim Gautreaux. He was one of my college professors at SLU in Hammond, Louisiana, so I checked out the book and spent two wonderful nights "going home". Having been raised in the most southeastern part of Louisiana, and being the only daughter of a 100% certified cajun man born and raised in southeastern Louisiana, this book paints the picture of cajun Louisiana with glorious highs and lows. The struggle for life, love and self-esteem from the two main characters had me laughing, crying and feeling homesick all at the same time. Well done, Dr. Gautreaux!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a compelling love story and social study, November 14, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Next Step in the Dance: A Novel (Paperback)

I could not put down this book. The characters were fun ,touching, and rang true. Of course there are some expected "cajun" types, but that is the reality as well. I appreciated the rather moving story of what the oil crisis did to Louisiana (and the oil boom also). I look forward to reading more of Tim Gautreaux's books.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A simple reason to read this book, April 18, 2004

By 

Steve "LukesDad" (Charlotte) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Next Step in the Dance: A Novel (Paperback)

When you read a book that makes you laugh and can actually bring a tear or two to your eyes, it's a good book!In reading other reviews of this book, it's been said it was overplotted. It got a little sticky in one or two places, but the pay-off is well worth the effort!

To be honest,I found this book to be as realistic a portrayal of Louisiana as you can find. I saw names familiar to me (I have family that lived in Napoleonville),so the book became more vivid and interesting.However, I did find myself not liking Collette very much because she was so mean to Paul,but he just loves her that much and it only served to endear the book to me more. Gran-Pere Abadie is so complete a character I can see my wifes Grandfather every time Abadie comes into the scene.

I would highly reccomend this book, and (having just finished it 10 minutes ago)am actually on this site to order my next Tim Gautreaux book!