Mirrors

by James Lipton

This is a fascinating look at the life of a Broadway dancer. I've read it countless times.

Genres: Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

James Lipton was an American writer, poet, and dean emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School in New York City. He was the executive producer, writer and host of the Bravo cable television series, Inside the Actors Studio, which debuted in 1994. He was also a pilot and a member of AOPA.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

James Lipton has been many things -- an actor, a producer, a dancer, a pimp in Paris -- as well as, of course, the world's most celebrity-mad interviewer. I love his over-the-top Inside the Actor's Studio interviews; they are the only ones where actors actually get to discuss their craft seriously. I wanted to like his one attempt at writing a novel, since he's so talented in so many other lines of work, but alas it proved impossible. The same skills that make him a good interviewer make him a terrible novelist. He interviews his characters, in fact, and they are incredibly helpful in response. They give us information -- tons of it -- about the life of dancers in New York in, I guess, the seventies. It's hilarious because each character tells us everything we need to know about life there and then -- and it's all dated. The language is dated, the clothes are dated, the attitudes are dated. It has the same novelistic appeal as a 70s retro TV show. And not in a good way. This is a bad, bad novel. It's completely predictable, completely transparent, and completely forthcoming. The audience that this book would work well for is an audience of one: a sociology grad student studying the life of gypsy dancers in the 70s in New York. The rest of the world should pass.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has the distinction of being my all-time favorite novel. I randomly found the hardcover in my house during high school, in a box of old books my mother had read. I could not believe the subject matter (the life of a musical theatre gypsy in NYC), nor the author (James Lipton!). It was even made into a TV movie that is SO '80's-licious. Camel toes and neon leotards were in attendance and in abundance.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating look at the life of a Broadway dancer. I've read it countless times.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, if predictable, story but full of some truly execrable prose.

My fondness for this book is rooted in part in having read it first when I was in junior high, after seeing the tv movie based on it. As I was then, I am a huge sucker for all things dance.

[Jennifer Daun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a decent filler book if you have nothing else to read. Didn’t mind the 80ish feel..just didn’t feel deep for any of the characters.

[Alydia Kardel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all-time favorites, and I reread it every few years. If you want to live the life of a dancer, then go grab this one and become a 'gypsy' for a few hours striving to make it on Broadway. It's full and rich with wonderful descriptions.