Dance Recover Repeat

By Alasdair Duncan

Book Overview

From an edgy new voice comes a frenetic novel about boredom, porn, and pills. Brandishing a unique, comic worldview, Alasdair Duncan assembles a surprising, devastating narrative using dialogue, emails, Internet chats, fantasies, notebook entries, blips from video games, and more.
Calvin is sixteen and bored with suburban life. But in the city, things are altogether more exciting. It's there that Calvin meets Anthony -- and the two boys quickly become obsessed with each other. Then Calvin discovers pictures of Anthony on a pornographic website and is drawn into his new friend's seedy underworld. Just as he's discovering what's like when first love meets first sex, when friendship meets lust, and when love meets loss, his teen angst morphs into full-on self-destructivness...and puts him on the path to an absolutely shocking series of events.
With total command of the world he creates for his characters -- in which the computer is just another pill you can pop, another way to run and hide, like drinking or drugging or having sex -- Alsdair Duncan makes an auspicious debut.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416503420
• ISBN13: 9781416503422
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: MTV Books
• Length: 373 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.2" x 7.3"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Calvin is a sixteen-year-old whose life revolves around video games, drugs, and clubs. He's had sexual relationships with more than a few guys yet has never been in love. He meets Jeremy online and is introduced into the world of gay porn. He sees Anthony's video and becomes obsessed with him. He's got to actually meet him in person. They see each other on the dance floor and things progress that night. Calvin sees Anthony as a blank canvas and it bothers him. Is there more to him than just sex? He tells Calvin that he's not really there while his photos and videos are taken. He says, "Take yourself out of the equation." This seems very complicated to Calvin and he searches to find the meaning of those words. This novel was an intriguing look into the life of a gay teenager. Calvin seemed like he constantly wanted more than what he was getting, yet wasn't sure how to find it. Readers should be aware that this book does contain sexually graphic passages. Reviewed by: hoopsielv

Calvin is hot!

Calvin is so hot! I read this in a day which I have never done with a book before, and I am halfway through reading it again. I liked the music references in it, and the fast pace as well. The ending made me sad - I want to know what happens to Calvin next! AARGH!

Sushi Central felt very real to me

I read the Australian edition of this book - Sushi Central - when it came out, and I've come back to it quite a few times since then. It is written in a style that is dark and funny and also very accessible - at times it feels less like you're reading a book and more like the author is really there talking to you. The main character is a very believable teenager - at certain times you want to hit him for being so stupid, but at others you just want to give him a hug! This book is not quite perfect - it's flawed in some ways, and there are places where you can feel the influence of other writers - but you can understand these things because I think the author was fairly young when he wrote it. I am really looking forward to Duncan's next book or anything else that he writes!

Dance from a Different Drummer

This story is based in Brisbane, Australia and if the goings-on bear any resemblance to real life there, it has to be the gayest place on earth. All the boys are constantly checking each other out. Boys on the street. Boys on the bus. Boys ostensibly with their girlfriends. Sixteen-year-olds have more sex than a fulltime porn star. But these are not complaints! The author, all of twenty-two, has an original style that blends flashbacks, fast-forwards, e-mail transmissions and it all works. My copy was printed in the U.S. so I don't know if it was "Americanized" but there are still some colloquialisms from down under. I figured out quickly what a "uni" is; it took a bit longer for a "long black" -- no, not what you think! There is a great amount of decadence and depravity ... and that's from the likeable characters! Alasdair Duncan is described as an "edgy new voice." Based on this work, indeed he is.

A Book to Read...

Though I have read the Australian version of this book, this is a book that is a must read particularly if you love something that is fun, exciting and at the same time challenging. Alasdair Duncan is still young and I'm sure he has a lot more to offer. I cannot wait for his next book!