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Toss and Whirl and Pass
Toss and Whirl and Pass is the dance of life - memory, love, loss - in the age of AIDS and terrorism. The tale of two star-crossed lovers -- an Ivy-educated poet, a famed Alvin Ailey dancer and choreographer and casualty of AIDS -- is revisited against the backdrop of the World Trade Center's destruction. Urban. Literary Fiction. Explicit.
194 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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14 people want to read
About the author
Shawn Stewart Ruff
13 books26 followersAward-winning author Shawn Stewart Ruff is author of the novels Days Running (2025), GJS II (2016), Toss and Whirl and Pass (2010), Finlater (2008), and the novella One/10th (2013). He is also editor of the landmark anthology Go the Way Your Blood Beats (1996).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 25, 2010
I was definitely NOT going to like this book when I started it. I was sure of that. The main character is angry and bitter and kind of a brat. But Shawn Stuart Ruff is so amazing at writing honest characters that I couldn't help falling under his spell, once again. This book is not really my cup of tea. It left me with even less understanding of the NYC art community and gay culture than I had before I read it, if that's possible. And it certainly didn't turn me upside down in the wonderful way Finlater did. But the writing cannot be ignored. Its simply stunning.
October 11, 2010
‘I’ve lived in a sort of fugue state for year’s now – my mornings beginning during most people’s supper, my evenings ending at the start of canine morning rush hour, when the sidewalks glisten with the new day’s fresh piss. I’m more likely to recognize the dog than I am the person holding the leash.’ So begins the latest novel TOSS and WHIRL and PASS by Shawn Stewart Ruff whose rise to literary importance since the publication of his first novel FINLATER has been swift and sure. Ruff is a national treasure, a gifted writer who is unafraid to tackle difficult topics because his use of the English language is as polished as anyone writing today. He can comfortably move from eloquent poetic prose (and poetry, this time) to raw, sensuous, erotic descriptive tones in a manner that does not draw attention to his talent but instead propels his story along. And what a storyteller he is!
Ruff moves so easily from the present to the past by a seamless use of flashbacks that it is sometimes difficult to know where we as readers are in the story. It would seem that TOSS WHIRL PASS is actually one day in the life of our narrator, Yale Battle, an Ivy-educated HIV+ poet/artist whose life and very being are still quivering from that terrifying moment we all refer to as 9/11. No particular time frames are mentioned but it FEELS as though that could have happened approximately two weeks before the opening of Yale’s story. But then perhaps it is the author’s intention in this paean to those countless men lost to the plague of AIDS to draw a parallel: despite the insidious onset of that disease with all of the physical signs Ruff so astutely describes in the course of this book, the end of life of the victim has the same momentous impact as that explosion of the twin towers.
Through a series of carefully choreographed episodes (‘choreographed’ is an appropriate term here as Ruff names each of his chapters after a dance position, explaining the French terms in English in a way that foretells the content of the words to come), Yale tells us a bit about his childhood including his introduction to same sex activity with his friend Hillary who later claims to have been assaulted, to his move into adulthood and progression to Ivy League schools in pursuit of his life as a frustrated writer, finding a lone friend in college, moving to New York and encountering Angel, his Dominican friend who dies of AIDS, and his ultimately meeting the ideal man of his life – one Courtney Baines Arrington, a ballet dancer with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and a wannabe choreographer. Throughout the book there are the trials and pleasures of his relationship with the narcissistic Courtney and the discovery that Courtney is HIV+ while they work together to make a dance company for Courtney and encourage the development of Yale’s writing gifts. The story begins with Yale seeking meds for their dying cat Zsa Zsa Gabor: when the pharmacy will not supply, Yale relies on his own supplier, the very young Solstice, who also happens to be bedding Yale’s stuffy British neighbor’s wife, and it is at this point that we realize that Yale has long been a drug addict. Since Courtney’s death he has been increasing casual about his life (the descriptions of his physical encounters is of the quality of Henry Miller, Genet, Gide et al) and eventually (later on in the day that the story begins) he gets arrested in the park for drugs and public sex with a Jamaican man who is likely the only real person Yale knows. Yes, this is a lot of story, but it is related with such aplomb and brilliant dialogue and intelligence that the reader forgets this happens to be a day in the life of Yale Battle. At the end of the book Yale confronts his own anguish with an extended poem about his eternal love, then resolves the loose ends of his story that began on page one. The final chapter burns itself into the memory of all who have lost loved ones.
In addition to the beauty of this writing the book design is also a work of art designed by Don Joseph as an irregularly shaped volume with excellent font and with the tenderness of printing the extended poem toward the back on black and gray pages. This is the second truly brilliant work by Shawn Stewart Ruff and with it he places himself solidly in the ranks of our finest African American writers – NO, simply one of our finest American writers!
Grady Harp
Ruff moves so easily from the present to the past by a seamless use of flashbacks that it is sometimes difficult to know where we as readers are in the story. It would seem that TOSS WHIRL PASS is actually one day in the life of our narrator, Yale Battle, an Ivy-educated HIV+ poet/artist whose life and very being are still quivering from that terrifying moment we all refer to as 9/11. No particular time frames are mentioned but it FEELS as though that could have happened approximately two weeks before the opening of Yale’s story. But then perhaps it is the author’s intention in this paean to those countless men lost to the plague of AIDS to draw a parallel: despite the insidious onset of that disease with all of the physical signs Ruff so astutely describes in the course of this book, the end of life of the victim has the same momentous impact as that explosion of the twin towers.
Through a series of carefully choreographed episodes (‘choreographed’ is an appropriate term here as Ruff names each of his chapters after a dance position, explaining the French terms in English in a way that foretells the content of the words to come), Yale tells us a bit about his childhood including his introduction to same sex activity with his friend Hillary who later claims to have been assaulted, to his move into adulthood and progression to Ivy League schools in pursuit of his life as a frustrated writer, finding a lone friend in college, moving to New York and encountering Angel, his Dominican friend who dies of AIDS, and his ultimately meeting the ideal man of his life – one Courtney Baines Arrington, a ballet dancer with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and a wannabe choreographer. Throughout the book there are the trials and pleasures of his relationship with the narcissistic Courtney and the discovery that Courtney is HIV+ while they work together to make a dance company for Courtney and encourage the development of Yale’s writing gifts. The story begins with Yale seeking meds for their dying cat Zsa Zsa Gabor: when the pharmacy will not supply, Yale relies on his own supplier, the very young Solstice, who also happens to be bedding Yale’s stuffy British neighbor’s wife, and it is at this point that we realize that Yale has long been a drug addict. Since Courtney’s death he has been increasing casual about his life (the descriptions of his physical encounters is of the quality of Henry Miller, Genet, Gide et al) and eventually (later on in the day that the story begins) he gets arrested in the park for drugs and public sex with a Jamaican man who is likely the only real person Yale knows. Yes, this is a lot of story, but it is related with such aplomb and brilliant dialogue and intelligence that the reader forgets this happens to be a day in the life of Yale Battle. At the end of the book Yale confronts his own anguish with an extended poem about his eternal love, then resolves the loose ends of his story that began on page one. The final chapter burns itself into the memory of all who have lost loved ones.
In addition to the beauty of this writing the book design is also a work of art designed by Don Joseph as an irregularly shaped volume with excellent font and with the tenderness of printing the extended poem toward the back on black and gray pages. This is the second truly brilliant work by Shawn Stewart Ruff and with it he places himself solidly in the ranks of our finest African American writers – NO, simply one of our finest American writers!
Grady Harp
Want to read
November 8, 2010Toss and Whirl and Pass is finally here! I've been patiently awaiting this follow-up to Shawn Ruff's exquisite debut novel for some time now. Our book group here in Atlanta unanimously selected his first novel, Finlater, for our book of the month and we collectively chose it as one of the best books we read all year. For those unfamiliar with Shawn, he's also the editor of a fantastic anthology Go the Way Your Blood Beats: An Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Fiction by African-American Writers of Lesbian/Gay fiction by African American writers. Like Finlater, Toss Whirl and Pass is wonderfully designed and beautifully written. You owe it to yourself to read this fantastic author!
October 10, 2012
I honestly don’t think this is the way the gay community wants to be remember or portrait.
The book is full of stigmas, do they really want to be remember as promiscuous, junkies, careless and hoor-ish attitude towards life and relationships.
I couldn´t wrap my head around the concept.
The whole drama with the cat was funny at point to be honest, kitty cancer? Really?
It was supposed to be about dealing with grieve, losing the one you love and dealing with it.
But it was too obscure, too pretentious in the writing, too all over the place in the MC ramblings.
A quote from the book that says it all…
“You think?” he said, grinning, a little shyly. “Maybe you’re right. Half the time nobody knows what the fuck I’m talking about.”
Like I said in one of my updates, maybe I´m not smart enough for this book. Feel free to give it a try if you are not easily offended.
The book is full of stigmas, do they really want to be remember as promiscuous, junkies, careless and hoor-ish attitude towards life and relationships.
I couldn´t wrap my head around the concept.
The whole drama with the cat was funny at point to be honest, kitty cancer? Really?
It was supposed to be about dealing with grieve, losing the one you love and dealing with it.
But it was too obscure, too pretentious in the writing, too all over the place in the MC ramblings.
A quote from the book that says it all…
“You think?” he said, grinning, a little shyly. “Maybe you’re right. Half the time nobody knows what the fuck I’m talking about.”
Like I said in one of my updates, maybe I´m not smart enough for this book. Feel free to give it a try if you are not easily offended.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews