fallchicken's review
2.0
Somewhat entertaining book by a dancer/story-teller who was close to Balanchine. Lots of name-dropping. And strange omissions, e.g., Baryshnikov was at NYCB and gets his name mentioned in passing just once that I noticed. The first part of the book, covering d'Amboise's youth and start in ballet is better. The last part is a jumble of anecdotes that might have been helped by some editing.
jchant's review
3.0
Much of this book was fascinating, especially the chapters that covered Jacques D'Amboise's childhood and early years at NYCB. The last third of the book was a real slog to get through, however. Some judicious editing would have helped here, I think.
I know the title implies that the focus of this memoir is on D'Amboise's life as a dancer, but I find it strange that there is so little about his personal life, especially interesting events, such as his hike with his oldest son, George, on the Appalachian Trail in 1999. (They hiked it north to south, which is not the usual direction that most hikers take.) I also was puzzled that there was no mention of his wife's death in 2009, which occurred two full years before this book was published.
To summarize, there was much about this book that I enjoyed, but I wish it had been a better (and shorter) book.
I know the title implies that the focus of this memoir is on D'Amboise's life as a dancer, but I find it strange that there is so little about his personal life, especially interesting events, such as his hike with his oldest son, George, on the Appalachian Trail in 1999. (They hiked it north to south, which is not the usual direction that most hikers take.) I also was puzzled that there was no mention of his wife's death in 2009, which occurred two full years before this book was published.
To summarize, there was much about this book that I enjoyed, but I wish it had been a better (and shorter) book.
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