The Fancy Dancer

Rating:
Summary: The Struggle To Come Out
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A novel of the struggle between homosexuality and the Church
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A very good try
Review: I think that this book could easily been seen as mediocre except for a couple of simple facts. First, the author is female, which means nothing to my New Critical friends, but I found it interesting how much insight and liberty this author felt she could take in portraying the life of a closeted gay male and his lover. Also, the times in which the book was written made it controversial. I felt some obligation to make my way through the movie just to see how good a job she did. She did better than I think most people did at her time, but I felt books like "Another Country," by James Baldwin, among others captured the energy and fear of gay male before the gay liberation movement. I don't know, I wasn't there. I found the book an important peek into a world I knew very little about, but it is not the best book I have read. I recommend it to those who liked the slower paced novel with the twist of something new. I don't recommend it to those who are expecting a salacious quick novel. A gay classic maybe, but definitely not one of the capstone's of twentieth century literature.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing special
Review: Nothing glaringly bad, but absolutely no appeal for me, personally. Although I would love to just find a well-written, current, romantic gay novel, I haven't found it yet. This book was written in the 70's so I suppose I should give it some slack. Also, it felt too religious for my taste.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing special
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Once a priest
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Native American lore
Review: While I'm a fan of Warren's, I found the romance between the two men not nearly as interesting as learning about the heritage of The Fancy Dancer. I could almost visualize the dance as it finally occurred.

There are strong religious themes that did not offend me, but might annoy some people who don't give much thought to religious pursuit.

Rating:
Summary: Native American lore
Review: While I'm a fan of Warren's, I found the romance between the two men not nearly as interesting as learning about the heritage of The Fancy Dancer. I could almost visualize the dance as it finally occurred.

There are strong religious themes that did not offend me, but might annoy some people who don't give much thought to religious pursuit.