NUREYEV His Life: Part I

Famous as much for his defection from the Soviet Union as for his brilliance in ballet, Rudolf Nureyev's biography reads more like an action-adventure story than a real life. This first half of the book offers significant detail about the dancer's youth and family, and carries his story through the the early years of his partnership with Margot Fonteyn. Donada Peters brings life and realism into a most scholarly work, reading the story like the thriller it is. Her dialects, whether Russian, Danish, French, or German, are identical, a blend of all these nationalities, but this oddity does little to detract from the overall performance. Don't rush out and get Part 1 without Part 2, however, as its ending in the middle of a conversation is most unsettling. R.P.L. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 01]