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2.5 

Dancefloor

By Victor Jestin & Sam Taylor
Dancefloor by Victor Jestin & Sam Taylor digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

From the author of Heatwave, a Waterstones Book of the Month
From the translator of The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, Lullaby and HHhH
 
'The modern day successor to Francoise Sagan' Evening Standard

The Beach is the only nightclub in town, a bright yellow cuboid on the docks. For most people it is a place to drink, flirt and hook up. Most people grow out of The Beach; they leave town, have families and pursue careers.

Arthur is not most people.

For Arthur The Beach is a sanctuary: a place where he can go every night to express himself, a place where he can make friends, a place where he can be somebody.

By day, Arthur is a loner. Shy and awkward, he fails at relationships and doesn’t even make the first rung of a career ladder. But by night, he is a star, electrifying the dancefloor and lighting up the night of those around him.

But, as he nears 40, even those who work at The Beach start to worry about him. How long can he continue living the fantasy life of an adolescent? And, with nightclubs closing at an ever-increasing rate, will The Beach disappear before he is ready to leave it behind?

In crystalline prose and with unmatched emotional acuity, Jestin examines the tension between society’s expectations and 21st Century realities, while introducing the world to one of literature’s great oddballs.

'A frightening talent' Le Figaro Magazine

'A dazzling second novel where his powerful words and his sense of rhythm make our intimate dance floors tremble.' Marie Claire'Victor Jestin keeps the reader in suspense, making him the best ally, almost the best friend of his lonely hero.' Le Monde des Livres

 
 
 

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Dancefloor Reviews

2.5
“I really enjoyed this and think the concept was super unique. I'm super conflicted about Arthur as a character. As a young adult, it was easy to feel sympathy - maybe even empathy - for him and his awkwardness, and his somewhat failing attempts to fit in. Seeing that, it makes it so difficult to comprehend how I feel about his character as he got older. When you're clubbing and you see an older guy, you instinctively back away, go to the opposite side away from the dodgy guy who's too old to be there. Reading this experience from the other perspective was quite uncomfortable? Or maybe too insightful? I'm not sure how to word it. The immediate response is to consider Arthur a bit of a weirdo, but I still feel a sort of misplaced sympathy for him, just in a different way than I did before. Ultimately, my conflicted feelings about his character are probably why I like this book. It was written so cleverly, and made me appreciate aging and adulthood in a way that isn't wholly disconnected from youth - particularly through an extreme case like Arthur's.”
“not what i was expecting not in a great way but sure!”

About Victor Jestin

Victor Jestin was born in 1994 and is a novelist and screenwriter. His first novel, Heatwave, won the Prix Femina des Lycéens and his second novel, Dancefloor, won both the Prix de la Maison Rouge and the Prix Blù Jean-Marc Roberts.

Other books by Victor Jestin

Sam Taylor

Sam Taylor is an award-winning literary translator and novelist. He has translated over seventy books from French including works by high-profile authors such as Laurent Binet, Leïla Slimani, David Diop, Maylis de Kerangal, and Marcel Proust. His translations have received recognition from the International Booker Prize, National Book Award, Dublin Literary Award, Scott-Moncrieff Prize, French-American Foundation Translation Prize, and Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. Born in England, Sam was a journalist at The Observer (London) before moving to France. He now lives in Texas with his family and is working on his sixth novel.

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