Family Dancing: Stories

Rating:
Summary: early Leavitt work shows some brilliance...
Review: '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.

Rating:
Summary: early Leavitt work shows some brilliance...
Review: '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.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing image of human dynamics with MRI-scan accuracy!
Review: David was in his early twenties when this was published. His stories capture the essence of what goes on between people, period. Counting Months, which describes the last Thanksgiving of a mother with lymphoma and her worries about her children's future is a tour-de-force!

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Please Me More
Review: Leavitt is one of the true modern masters of the short story--it is ashame his novels aren't quite as well done. Here is where Leavitt launched his career, to justified critical delight. These stories are near perfection--and our of a writer in his early 20s!--with well-drawn characters and serious themes, though sometimes playful treatments. Leavitt's preoccupations seem to be with the family, homosexuality, and cancer, but he has yet to make any of these topics stale. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: the family exposed
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: interesting
Review: These stories are poignant and very subtle. I enjoyed the first half of the book, but later on it gets repetitive, with the same themes of mothers afflicted with cancer, gay sons, and divorces. I did find the gay aspects of the story interesting because they're not forced upon the readers.

Rating:
Summary: interesting
Review: These stories are poignant and very subtle. I enjoyed the first half of the book, but later on it gets repetitive, with the same themes of mothers afflicted with cancer, gay sons, and divorces. I did find the gay aspects of the story interesting because they're not forced upon the readers.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Collection
Review: This was a wonderful collection of beautifully written stories. It is not wonder this, Leavitt's debut, brought so much critical acclaim along with a warm welcome of Leavitt to the Literary community. Of the nine stories contained, most were wonderfuly written (Leavitt has a way with words, and when reading his writing, it is like sipping a sweet drink that goes down smooth and cool.) The most wonderful stories in this volume are "Territory," "The Lost Cottage," "Danny in Transit," "Family Dancing," "Out Here," and "Dedicated. The only stories I didn't particularly like were "Counting Months," "Aliens," and "Radiation." And of these last, even they had their good qualities. This is a wonderful book and I recommend it to anyone who love good fiction.