I bought this one out of curiosity, having read the author's Front Runner in a constant state of wanting to chuck it out of the window for being too annoying and misogynistic, so the extent I was going to give this book a chance was quite limited. But it was OK as an untaxing read for a lazy weekend. ( )

Disappointing, just never took too either of the main characters. ( )

The Fancy Dancer is about a young, handsome priest named Tom, who meets bad boy Vidal in the confessional booth. The two of them become friends, and then lovers, but they are forced to hide it from the rest of their community. It's like Brokeback Mountain, but with cassocks instead of cowboy hats.

Like Brokeback Mountain (I'm talking the novella here, not the film), The Fancy Dancer is a quiet, subtle unfortunately short story. A lot of it is about Tom's struggle to reconcile his homosexuality with the teachings of the church, and what I like about this book is that it doesn't condemn the church as this terrible, oppressive institution of pure evil. Tom actually renews his faith at the end of the book, but don't let that lure you into thinking that this is a happy-ending kind of love story. It isn't. It ends the way life ends -- that is, without finality. Tom and Vidal are so mismatched that their relationship simply tapers out, but with a sweet, wistful taste in your mouth. ( )

This is such a romantic story. i borrowed it from my locally library throughout my teenage years and i was so thrilled when i came acorss a copy for sale. read it read it read it! ( )