Thank you very much for posting, whetherwax. I don't know why the shop you work in wants $65 for this book when it's listed for only $35. In fact, Amazon is selling it much cheaper (and purchases through the link at the top of this page benefit this site).
Here's an excerpt of a review in the
California Literary Review.
QUOTE
On one side of the divide is van Dantzig, an intellectual interested in pushing the boundaries of avant garde and modern art, a phlegmatic, almost introspective narrator, a man accustomed to order, a splash of pale blue. On the other, Nureyev, the lover of classic showpieces, the Tatar who delights in romanticism and spectacle, the scarlet streak who thrills, dramatically, to the business of living.
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Another excerpt: Nureyev could be a royal pain, but
QUOTE
there is also a willing listener here, a man moved to tears by Mozart, a generous host, and a sympathetic soul:
It was amazing how amiable and open he was in those hours, seeming to understand my creative dilemmas, how I was wrestling with the music, the large number of dancers, the laborious arrangements at the Opera which caused me to suffer from a constant lack of time, and he even seemed to understand my displeasure at his own early-morning whims.