THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH

by David Weiss ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

To readers who are not embarrassed by these somewhat gushy pages, this fictionized biography of Isadora Duncan will prove interesting. In the novel, the name is ""Lenora Malcolm""- but the pattern of the plot follows Isadora Duncan's career from her birth in 1878 to her death around 1927, and covers her unconventional story, her search for lovers, her illegitimate children, her heavy drinking, her rapid decay, and the famous sick-minded episode with the mad young Russian poet who drank up her money and then killed himself after a disastrous American tour with her. Readers of sterner fibre will find some of the passages difficult to take...When at twelve, she is asked why she wants to dance she replies, ""Because nature dances and I want to be beautiful."" And later- ""Society will always find the artist and self expression strange and difficult...I must dance for the artists, for those who have the imagination to appreciate me. I must...I must."" Against this it is hard to recognize her genius.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1959

Categories: FICTION