- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Bantam Books (Mm) (July 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0553577093
- ISBN-13: 978-0553577099
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.4 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,913,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Calvin eats dirt. He never actually swallows it, just places loose clumps onto his tongue and sucks, I think....He knows better, my son, but he is still
young and needs to be watched.
So goes the poignant journey of discovery for Gordon Nash, a journey that began two years ago when his wife suddenly walked out on him, leaving him alone to
raise their son. Calvin is now four, fragile yet stubborn, devoted to his pet, a dead Portuguese man-o-war he calls Mom. Faced daily with the struggle and
joys of raising this bright little boy, Gordon learns the vast reaches of his affection and the limits of his patience. He plumbs the deep well of rage within himself, to find there disturbing echoes of his own father. And he comes to understand that nothing is as important as this complex, imperfect love--a lesson he must turn to when his wife reappears one day, threatening to turn his and Calvin's world upside down once again
young and needs to be watched.
So goes the poignant journey of discovery for Gordon Nash, a journey that began two years ago when his wife suddenly walked out on him, leaving him alone to
raise their son. Calvin is now four, fragile yet stubborn, devoted to his pet, a dead Portuguese man-o-war he calls Mom. Faced daily with the struggle and
joys of raising this bright little boy, Gordon learns the vast reaches of his affection and the limits of his patience. He plumbs the deep well of rage within himself, to find there disturbing echoes of his own father. And he comes to understand that nothing is as important as this complex, imperfect love--a lesson he must turn to when his wife reappears one day, threatening to turn his and Calvin's world upside down once again
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifuly Heartbreaking.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Dance Real Slow (Hardcover)
I am currently reading this book for the fourth time, such is it's sorrowful and realistic intimacy. For once, the single parent is the father, and Gordon Nash is a wonderfuly crafted leading man. The reader is transported straight into Tarent, Kansas, and is at once enamoured in the small town intimacy and suffocated by small town restraints. Perhaps it is wrong of me to say this book is heartbreaking as it is not a wholly sad tale, rather, it is a beautifuly realistic portrayal of modern parenthood, with gentle glances back to a time that the reader perhaps has spent looking back at too. This reader most certainly has. Dance Real Slow is, almost unbelievably, Michael Grant Jaffe's debut novel, and one that is certainly worth reading. Read it once and you may find yourself reading it again and again.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lame, tame, much the same,
By J. C Clark "eanna" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dance Real Slow (Paperback)
The misapplied metaphor and the meaningless adjective overwhelm this slight book pretending to be a serious examination of love and fathering. But besides the numerous inappopriate and gratuitous modifiers, there is nothing here. The conflict feels grafted on by an author who recognizes the dullness of his tale, the plot surprises would only surprise the comatose, and the predictability of the whole thing left me weary. A book for those who feel rather than think, for the feelings are all good in this. Nice man, nice boy, nice girlfriend. Nice make-believe story line. Nothing in here approaches real. Nothing is thought out. It is the harmless cotton candy of modern fiction, tastes great (in very limnited quantities) with no content whatsoever. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
a sweet read in parts,
By M. H. Bayliss "book queen" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dance Real Slow (Hardcover)
Though Jaffe's novel is far from perfect (weak writing in parts that sounds contrived, some plot strands that just don't work out), let's dwell on the bright side. He captures quite well the frustrations and joys of parenthood. Even the most patient parent occassionaly feels like smacking his/her child at times. Calvin is a cute 4 year old who becomes enamoured of the Portuguese Man of War that his grandmother sends him in a jar! In one of the funniest scenes in the book, they make a trip to a doctor friend who treats the decaying jellyfish and adds formaldyhide which prolongs the creatures jar life a few more days. The love interest part of the book works, although we never find out much about her, but the scenes when his exwife comes back just don't seem to hang together. There were times that the writing sounded "workshoppy" to me. In short, this novel is worth reading for some poignant moments and sweet scenes, but it has several weaknesses that interfere with the novel as a whole.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mr. Nicholas Webber,
By Nick Webber - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dance Real Slow (Hardcover)
Jaffe's story provides a wonderful example of how a thirty-something single father deals with parenthood, while at the same time living through the trials and tribulations of his new found life. Love, loss of love, security, and insecurity are all very important themes within this book. Jaffe provides a wonderful set of characters who play out the problems of life in a small town in Kansas (a slow paced backdrop which allows the reader to put into perspective the interaction which occurs between its complex protagonist and the rest of the characters within the novel). All and all, this story is well thought out, and it is very well portrayed. In terms of writing style, Jaffe has room to improve. Though he shows flashes of briliance, his narrative, many times, appears to be organic and repetitive. Written in the first person, there are a lot of "I's," and there is not a whole lot depth in the description of setting. In conclusion, this book excells in bringing to life the problems of a man trying to become a father, and lacks in literary maturity. Something this good writer will only get better at.
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