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Women's Fiction

The Next Step in the Dance : A Novel

The Next Step in the Dance : A Novel

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $11.20
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: So, it's got a few elements of the tall tale...
Review: ...I have to agree - at least in part - with another reviewer who prefers Tim Gautreaux's short stories to this, his first novel. I wouldn't go so far as to compare it to a TV soap, however - the characters here are far more believable, down-to-earth and fleshed-out than the cardboard cutouts that populate the morning and afternoon airwaves. Gautreaux is an excellent writer, and I don't think he deserves that sort of analogy.

The novel is not face-paced - there are some scenes in it that are full of action, and these move along nicely, but for the most part it is languid, much like the atmosphere that so dominates the landscape of the South. Like that atmosphere, the book is thick with the sort of stuff that cannot be readily seen - but it can most certainly be felt. In his depiction of the troubled marriage between Paul and Colette Thibodeaux, the author demonstrates (as he does so well in his short stories) how well he knows the people of his region - indeed, of any region, for the emotions laid bare here in his carefully paced prose and dialogue are universal. They exist in all of us - especially those of us who have been blessed enough to experience the joys, sorrows, ecstasy, pain and constant struggle of a relationship. Fairy tales are just that - fairy tales - and this is not one. To make a marriage/relationship last takes constant attention and work, give and take, mutual respect, strength, wisdom and compromise, and much, much more. It is never a free ride - and this is something that most of us have to learn by doing, sometimes `the hard way'. The trick is to stick with it - at least one of the partners has to have the commitment and the faith to keep trying to make things work. That is the core of Paul Thibodeaux's character - and that is the engine that pulls this novel along, slowly sometimes, but surely.

For about the first 60 pages or so, I found myself tempted to put the book down, possibly returning to it when I was more `in the mood' for its pace - but I persevered, and I'm so glad I did. Once I relaxed enough to accept the pace at which Gautreaux is determined to tell this story, I was pulled into it headlong, and I had reached the end before I knew it. I have a lot of respect for an author who has that sort of talent - the sort that makes know there is a lot to be gained from a book if I give myself up to it completely.

I see that Gautreaux has a new novel, THE CLEARING - I can't wait to read it. This man is an incredibly talented artist - his style is both powerful and gentle, and he has stories to tell. Listen to him.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: WELL-WRITTEN, BUT¿
Review: ...I have to agree - at least in part - with another reviewer who prefers Tim Gautreaux's short stories to this, his first novel. I wouldn't go so far as to compare it to a TV soap, however - the characters here are far more believable, down-to-earth and fleshed-out than the cardboard cutouts that populate the morning and afternoon airwaves. Gautreaux is an excellent writer, and I don't think he deserves that sort of analogy.

The novel is not face-paced - there are some scenes in it that are full of action, and these move along nicely, but for the most part it is languid, much like the atmosphere that so dominates the landscape of the South. Like that atmosphere, the book is thick with the sort of stuff that cannot be readily seen - but it can most certainly be felt. In his depiction of the troubled marriage between Paul and Colette Thibodeaux, the author demonstrates (as he does so well in his short stories) how well he knows the people of his region - indeed, of any region, for the emotions laid bare here in his carefully paced prose and dialogue are universal. They exist in all of us - especially those of us who have been blessed enough to experience the joys, sorrows, ecstasy, pain and constant struggle of a relationship. Fairy tales are just that - fairy tales - and this is not one. To make a marriage/relationship last takes constant attention and work, give and take, mutual respect, strength, wisdom and compromise, and much, much more. It is never a free ride - and this is something that most of us have to learn by doing, sometimes 'the hard way'. The trick is to stick with it - at least one of the partners has to have the commitment and the faith to keep trying to make things work. That is the core of Paul Thibodeaux's character - and that is the engine that pulls this novel along, slowly sometimes, but surely.

For about the first 60 pages or so, I found myself tempted to put the book down, possibly returning to it when I was more 'in the mood' for its pace - but I persevered, and I'm so glad I did. Once I relaxed enough to accept the pace at which Gautreaux is determined to tell this story, I was pulled into it headlong, and I had reached the end before I knew it. I have a lot of respect for an author who has that sort of talent - the sort that makes know there is a lot to be gained from a book if I give myself up to it completely.

I see that Gautreaux has a new novel, THE CLEARING - I can't wait to read it. This man is an incredibly talented artist - his style is both powerful and gentle, and he has stories to tell. Listen to him.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Grass Always Looks Greener On The Other Side
Review: A complicated love story about a young married couple, Paul and Colette, from a small Louisiana town. Colette has many dreams and goals which she believes can only be found outside of Louisiana. Paul is not a dreamer and is content with things as they are, but loves Colette more than anything. The book takes place in Louisiana and California. The writing of author Gautreaux does not skip a beat and makes you feel like you are part of the book. I could not put the book down and enjoyed my travels in Louisiana...The grass is not always greener on the other side. The story also focuses on the importance and support of friends and family.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Over plotted does not even BEGIN to describe it!
Review: Being from Louisiana and having lived here all my life, I tend to read with a more critical eye books set in the great state. This book was VERY over plotted and full of "charming Louisiana" expressions. GIVE ME A BREAK! Not everyone eats gumbo for every meal and shoots nutria in the bayou, ya'll. Books like this is just one of many reasons why "outsiders" think we are all backwards and sit around sucking on crawfish heads all day. I felt like I wasted my time for 340 pages of nothingness.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dance With The One Who Brung ya!
Review: Being from Louisiana,I have a critical eye concerning how the state and people are portrayed. If you enjoy the detail of landscape and characters in James Lee Burke novels, then this book is for you. Tim Gautreaux tells a simple story about a young Louisiana couple, Paul and Colette, who question their values, surroundings and commitment in a detailed account that made me laugh out loud, sigh with regret, and take pride in their revelations. When Paul remembers that Colette had said "that Louisiana was a land of limited ambition" the story really takes off. Read this book to find out if Colette was right. I promise that you'll dance with the one who brung ya!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Great Read!
Review: I am a BIG fan of Gautreaux's short fiction, so I decided to see what his novel writing was like. The story of Paul and Colette was at once simple and epic... I found myself really sympathizing with the characters... laughing with them, crying with them... wanting to reach inside the book and save them...

A really excellent read :)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I very much enjoyed reading this book.
Review: I am a Yankee, but I was one of Tim Gautreaux¹s teachers at Nicholls State College in Thibodaux, Louisiana in the mid-1960¹s, and so you can imagine my delight when I recently saw his new book reviewed in the New York Times. I ordered it through Amazon.com and just finished reading it. After telling Tim how much I enjoyed it, I decided to write this review for Amazon.com.

The book brought back many fond memories of South Louisiana to me, especially the sounds (of nutria screaming like babies, and those slow banging inboard motors on the pirogues, and the pecans on a tin roof in a thunderstorm), but also the smells, and the foods, and the architecture, and the vegetation, and the camaraderie, and the heat and sweat and rhythms of speech and the joie de vivre and the extended kinship of the people. It was a wonderful story, and wonderfully told, and it is about the most important things -- love and loyalty and work and redemption.

The Next Step in the Dance caused me to think about and remember fondly many of the wonderful people and places from my time at Thibodaux that had begun to fade after thirty years. Now they are alive and present again in me, and in my dreams, and I am richer for them, thanks to Tim¹s book. -- Michael Rafferty

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a compelling love story and social study
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a compelling love story and social study
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fly away home
Review: I enjoyed this book a great deal. Isn't it true that we always think somewhere else will have more interesting peole, a more beautiful life to offer us. Only to find out that generally speaking one place is like the next once you get there. I like the characters in the book and found that the setting was very much like the Louisana I remember seeing many years ago. You can almost feel the humidity and see the bayous in the words Mr. Gautreaux has chosen. As I read it I could recall the feelings I had as a teenager and young adult about wanting to get out of the small town and bust out into the big world where townsfolks weren't there doing small town, boring things. Of course I know live in a small town, but that is what this is about, how we rebel against the familiar in search of excitement only to find out that it was already there and we didn't see it. The relationship of Colette and Paul is one that bears looking at because it is regular, and uncertain, and real. The events of the story I found to be very good reading and would encourage others to give it a try. I would hazard a guess that anyone who enjoys Nicholas Sparks, or Richard Paul Evans would like this story as well.


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