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Jackie Kennedy with Rudolf Nureyev

There are articles today - decades after their deaths that Jackie and Rudolf had an affair. These are just rumors. We know that he did perform at the White House and knew both Jack and Jackie, and kept a long friendship with Jackie for years.

McCanns book does not even hint at an affair, only a passing friendship filled with adoration on both sides.
I personally find the affair hard to believe.

Rudolf Nureyev went from a penniless Russian teen, escaping from 1960s Russia to a world famous millionaire ballet dancer who partied with the likes of John Harrison, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol, and a very close friend with Jackie Kennedy later Onassis.
He died in 1993 from AIDS leaving millions to different ballet schools
McCanns portrayal of him is artistic - he is simultaneously overly dramatic, short-tempered, and extremely generous.

"Whatever loneliness we have had in this world will only make sense when we are no longer lonely"
Amazing story. I don't know anything about ballet but was fascinated with this fictionalized account of Rudolf (Rudik) Nureyev. From Russian peasant to world renowned ballet dancer Rudik is masterfully brought back to life through this book. McCanns writing is phenomenal & the celebrity cameos from Jackie O to Andy Warhol made it a pleasure to read.

McCann blows me away with his writing. I am a little over a third in and just marveling at his style. Each section is often from an alternating or new POV, there is no formal introduction to whose POV it is, but you are clued in within the first 2 lines. Along with this often the style of writing is different such as from the shoemaker whose sections have no periods and no capitalization at the beginning of the paragraph. Loving this read.

Weekly Forecast

Chipping away at 3 Musketeers.
Determined to read Dancer by McCann (the oldest book on my TBR
And getting into the October spirit with Nettle & Bone and The Center

#bookspin

This is the month I finish all of the books on my GR TBR from 2021! LOL I have been trying all year without much success, I have the tagged left, then I want to read at least 4 from my 2022 TBR. I keep getting distracted by shiny new things.

A good chunk of this list this month is libary books. I am not participating in any haunted things this month, not really feeling the spirit, but there are a couple on here that are a bit spooky

#AboutABook #BasedOnATrueStory

An embellished account of the life of Rudolf Nureyev. The writing was sublime and extremely spicy!!!

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Described as an erotically charged story of Rudolf Nureyev. I read this about 10 years ago when I overheard someone at a gym say they were disappointed and disgusted at this novel, (because of the gay depiction of their hero, Nureyev), well I ran to the bookstore. This is wonderfully written. 5 ⭐️

#BookBinge #Dancing

This was a riveting blend of fact & fiction, the “life” of world class dancer Rudolph Nureyev. Beginning with his childhood during WWII in the Soviet Union through his battle with AIDS. McCann borrows real diary passages from Andy Warhol, Jacqueline Kennedy, Truman Capote and many more iconic figures who shaped the decades between 1945- 1993. Multi cast narration was AMAZING 🎧Lots of Eff -bombs dropped and tons of sex mentioned.

One again, I am being sucked down the Google rabbit hole....this time it‘s all about Rudolph Nureyev, the famed Russian dancer. What a fascinating character. Book is so good and the multi narrated audio is amazing 🙌🏻🎧

Not sure who put this book on my #LitsyRadar but I‘m really enjoying. HF about a young Russian boy with dreams of being a world class dancer. Beginning in 1940‘s during the end of WWII. Maybe I should mention this young boy is Rudolf Nureyev❤️

#septembowie #letsdance
Here's a book i really liked that brought the life of nureyev vividly to the page from the hardship of a childhood in Russia to his dying years from aids- a really good read and incredible dancer

#day6 #augustgrrrl #whatafeeling Love me an 80s dance movie, and I think I watched this one on VHS about a million times when I was a kid.... And boy do I love Colum McCann's writing (and speaking voice *swoon*) and this story based on ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev's life is beautiful.... #oncean80sgirlalwaysan80sgirl

This was an impulse grab at the library, and it turned into a really enjoyable read. Stylistically it took a while to get into, and I thought the narrative fell apart a little at the end, but overall a strong and interesting read.

#artrelatedbooks I had to interpret "art" a little more loosely so I turned to these two that at the top of my TBR. Dancer is about ballet and Hag-seed is a rewrite of The Tempest ( my all time favorite Shakespeare work) by Margaret Atwood. I can't wait to read them both #seasonsreadings2016

A detailed and fascinating fictionalization of the life of dancer and Russian defector Rudolf Nureyev