Dancing at the Rascal Fair

by Ivan Doig

Book Overview

The central volume in Ivan Doig's acclaimed Montana trilogy, Dancing at the Rascal Fair is an authentic saga of the American experience at the turn of this century and a passionate, portrayal of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689117647
• Release Date: September 1987
• Publisher: Atheneum
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 3.0" x 6.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

My New Favorite Author!

Where has Ivan Doig been all my life? I feel like I did discovering James Michener at 14, 50 years ago. I've just started book 3 in his Montana trilogy. The first, English Creek, might leave some wishing for more of a story line. Not me. I was kept very happy with his writing style and depiction of an unknown (to me,) part of the US in the early part of the last century. Dancing at the Rascal Fair goes further back 2 generations. There's a bit more story but even more fabulous Doig way with words. I'm a tough audience and don't allow much poetic license and even less fluff. It all rang true to me, perhaps somewhat because of the far off time and place. Men will appreciate the study of real men who won the frontier and women will be left pining for a cowboy of their own.

New favorite

I purchased this after hearing the author and his books discussed on NPR and I wasn't disappointed. I took their recommendation and started this 3 book series by reading the second book, Dancing at the Rascal Fair, first. I loved the development of the characters and their complex choices about family, love, and frienship. The story immediately draws you into the personal lives of the characters and deepens your understanding of what it felt like to be in that particular time of American history. The book covers a familiar theme, young men immigrating from Scotland in the early part of the 20th century to settle in the west and start their families. But it is such a personal, rolicking, adventure and love story that it reads like a new version of western stories. I can't wait to get the next book, English Creek, to continue the saga of the families.

This "rascal" is remarkable "fare"!

I'm amazed I've not encountered Ivan Doig before. His writing is apparently a secret well kept from the greater public, although he seems to have quite a loyal following among those who've managed to discover his work. Maybe it's because his writing has been clumped into the vast "Western" genre--which properly links him with great story tellers like Grey and L'Amour--but calling Dancing At the Rascal Fair a "western" is about as accurate as labeling Gone With the Wind a "war story". Doig's characterization is extremely insightful and carefully unveils the heights and depths the human soul can reach with searing clarity. His plot line (which some have called "slow to unfold") is in pace with the time he's depicting. And his imagery is unparalleled. His genius in burning a certain picture into his readers' minds reaps a stunning harvest at the climax of this breath taking depiction of life "under the skin". Highly recommended.

Dancing in Montana

This is a story of two best friends, Angus and Rob, from Scotland immigrating to Montana in the 1880's to become sheep ranchers, teachers, husbands, and fathers. It begins with them as young men with noble dreams and ideals, and follows them as they mature and build lives on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. The descriptions of the land draw the reader to imagine the surreal beauty of Montana in all its seasons and moods, whether forbidding, forgiving, or formidable. "Where the bevels of the valleys met, the creek ran in ripples and rested in Beaver ponds. A curlew made deft evasive flight across the slope below us as if revealing curlicues in the air." (p. 80)This book entices the reader with paragraph after paragraph of poetic prose. "I could feel the halt of all she had been setting forth until now, the stop of her thought as this new proposal opened, enormous as the future, before her." (p.156) I could turn to any page, and find exquisite sentences, long and languorous, or reverberating with insight and meaning. "I reached her to me, but there was too much in me to speak straight to what she had just said. Adair herself, myself, Anna, past, future, now." (p. 264) The plot doesn't go the way I wanted or expected it to, almost to the point of frustration at times, but good stories never go just where you want or expect them to. You build expectations of characters you like and who love each other. You want their love to be fulfilled, but sometimes, just as in real life, it simply doesn't happen. Sometimes friendships go bad. Sometimes in life people disappoint or betray you. Doig presents characters who surprise you. You want to reach into the story and shake some sense into them. That's good stuff.

Exceptional

I usually read science fiction, but I picked this up by chance. The writing is remarkable, Doig is a master of beautiful, flowing prose, excellent characterization, and story telling. The plot is very strong yet subtle, and I rapidly flew through the book; I was as hooked as I have ever been. Without giving anything away I just want to say that this is one of the best pieces of literature that I have read in many years.

Doig spins a brilliant yarn!

Chronologically the first in his Montana trilogy, "Dancing at the Rascal Fair" makes even flatlanders homesick for the Big Sky Country. Doig puts words together in such a manner that they make complete, correct English sentences. This alone makes the book unusual in modern-day fiction. Then, he grabs your attention with a spellbinding story that has all of the elements that make you want to begin reading and never stop. His beloved Montana comes to life such that you can hear the constant wind, feel the biting cold, taste the dust of the dry years, smell the sheep pens at shearing time, and see the vast expanses of prarie fading into the impossibly rugged mountains. This book grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go. Even long after my last reading of it, I am still moved by the passion and power of the story. It is certainly among the best fiction I have read.