A Mad Desire to Dance A Novel

Praise for A Mad Desire to Dance

A soaring explanation of a soul devastated by horrorism in a world off its rocker, A Mad Desire to Dance cannot be called comfy, not by a long shot. But in its own highstepping yet paradoxically heart-wracking way, it can most assuredly be considered beautiful (almost beyond belief).
-Judith Fitzgerald, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Tales in A Mad Desire to Dance just pour out of the author like the Talmudic ma ayan hamitgaber, the wellspring that never runs dry . . . Wiesel proves again that he is a master storyteller who can weave a complex tapestry of plots into an intricately poignant human portrait.
-Ari L. Goldman, Moment magazine

A Mad Desire to Dance is the novel Elie Wiesel was born or more accurately, survived to write . . . There are many truths buried in this book; that you have to work a little harder, dig a little deeper, to find them makes the experience all the more meaningful.
-Curt Schleier, Milwaulkee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel

Elie Wiesel once more confirms his influence as a master storyteller who can weave an intricate narrative into a complex portrait of a man at once obliterated and remade.
-M.E. Collins, Chicago Sun-Times

Austerely written and . . . thought-provoking.
-Mike Peed, The New York Times Book Review

Elie Wiesel continues to be the ultimate witness to history s worst enormity, and its fiercest moral voice for remembrance . . . [A Mad Desire to Dance] takes patience and close reading, but those who stay with it will derive a significant level of satisfaction . . . from the seemingly simple yet stirring reminder that love can soothe, even if it cannot completely heal, the most horrendous wounds.
-Gerald Sorin, Haaretz

Artfully developed . . . Wiesel is a master storyteller.
-Alvin H. Rosenfeld, The New Leader

Alternately rough and tender . . . A Mad Desire to Dance begins ominously and ends beautifully . . . No matter if your faith lies with science, religion, or both, A Mad Desire to Dance offers a tantalizing conversion experience for the philosopher in you.
-Andrew Burstein, The Baton Rouge Advocate

Vivid . . . This novel is filled with gorgeous prose.
-Kevin O Kelly, The Boston Globe

A Mad Desire to Dance shows the sensibility of a literary wanderer who has not finished searching for answers to his original anguished questions . . . A reader willing to navigate the thickets will find rewards. The novel s . . . satisfactions lie in a sense of shared responsibility between teller and listener, a confidential yet far-reaching partnership that began four decades ago with Night.
-Donna Rifkind, The Washington Post

The novel . . . ends on an affirmative note, a triumph of life s dance of desire over the madness that is a living death. Philosophy meets psychology in this profound, often poetic novel.
-Starred review, Kirkus

It is once again a survivor s memories . . . that will rivet readers . . . The terse personal vignettes are gripping . . . The secrets surprise you to the end.
-Booklist

Difficult but powerful . . . Wiesel handles the situation expertly, and . . . a multilayered narrative emerges: the journey through sadness and toward redemption; a meditation on the hand dealt to Holocaust survivors; and a valuable parable on the wages of human trauma. While the novel is not always easy sledding, there are ample rewards intellectual and visceral for the willing reader.
-Publishers Weekly

And praise from France for A Mad Desire to Dance

A Mad Desire to Dance reminds us, with force, that Wiesel s writing is alive and strong. The master has once again found here a startling freshness.
-Le Monde des Livres

A genuine adventure that enriches the reader.
-L Eclaireur

A Mad Desire to Dance [is] an interior adventure driven by the need to know and the certitude that only love can heal our most intimate wounds.
-France Culture