The Fancy Dancer

I just finished rereading the Fancy Dancer for the first time in Several decades...it was refreshing to find the characters still alive and real and timeless. The book was a reminding walk through the trials and tribulations of being Gay in the great State of Montana in the 70's...the book is as current to day as it was when it was written...the names have changed, the technology more advanced but the emotions and feelings are as real now 4 decades later as they were the year it was written. Ms. Nell-Warren writes from the heart and experience as a child of small town Montana and share the beauty of it Her words and prose. If you have read it before read it again with eyes of today's society,if you have not read it before do so, for the history and humanity it it shares.

This is another engaging story by one of the best gay authors who educates us all in the struggles of LGBT people. This story is introduced by Reverend Troy Perry, Founder and Moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Churches. This story was written 20 years ago and Perry finds it fresh and timely considering today's headlines. Enjoy the story of Catholic Priest Tom Meeker whose life is changed forever. A wonderful, uplifting story of acceptance of one's self.

Patricia Nell Warren gets into the psyche of the clergy and the soul of the rural gay man in this novel. I felt the things she wrote, I knew the things she speaks of. Montana sings here and the Roman Catholic clergy are beautifully and truthfully represented. I know. I've been there. Almost word for word.Warren's prose works. Her descriptions are beautiful and accurate, and her heart is truly represented here- her love for Montana and the spiritual seeker are undeniable-and that's what makes this novel great.

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.

I had read this book over 20 years ago and just recently had a "hankering" to read it again. It was so easy to find on Amazon and priced right!! What a great story!!

It was great finding this book. I first read it when I was a freshman in college in the 70's. I liked the story so much, I passed it on to a friend.

Amazing book! You won’t be able to put it down!

great ,,,,,,,