Dancer from the Dance
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Dancer from the Dance is a 1978 novel by Andrew Holleran about gay men in New York City, United States.
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[edit] Plot
The novel revolves around two main characters: Anthony Malone, a young man from the Midwest who leaves behind his "straight" life as a lawyer to immerse himself in the gay life of 1970s New York, and Andrew Sutherland, variously described as a speed addict, a socialite, and a drag queen. Malone is described as preternaturally beautiful; much of the plot concerns Sutherland's efforts to leverage Malone's beauty by "marrying" him to a young millionaire.
[edit] Themes
The novel is known for its vivid imagery, lush language, and captivating depiction of gay men searching for love and acceptance in harsh, dreamlike urban landscape. The novel was one of the first among gay fiction to portray the party atmosphere of Fire Island, a summer community on Long Island where many urban homosexuals celebrated drugs, parties, tea dances, and sexual exploration.
The title of the novel comes from the poem "Among School Children" by William Butler Yeats: "O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,/How can we know the dancer from the dance?"
[edit] Influence
Published in the same year as Edmund White's Nocturnes for the King of Naples and Larry Kramer's Faggots, Dancer from the Dance is regarded as a major contribution to post-Stonewall gay male literature.
