Misha: Mikhail Baryshnikov Story - Hardcover

Barbara Aria

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0860515923 ISBN 13: 9780860515920

Publisher: Robson Books Ltd, 1998

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Treading listlessly over old ground, freelance writer Aria offers a biography of the "Russian superstar Casanova." "Dancing, he has always been the greatest," even though fellow members of Leningrad's Kirov Ballet, the author observes, called the teenaged Baryshnikovshort, stocky and quick"hockey puck." Few new facts emerge, but it is interesting to note that the dancer's film appearances began in 1971 with his debut in the Soviet-made Fiesta , in which he played a "handsome young matador . . . ready to meet his lonely fate." A "genius he was" at the barre, and although financial and artistic turmoil have rocked the American Ballet Theater periodically since Baryshnikov became artistic director in 1980, "Misha has learned about himself. He admits that he's moody and that when he's down he's intolerable, but he says he's working on it." This remains a celebrity portrait, never bursting the bubble of fame to find the man inside it. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

At age 40 Baryshnikov still has a long career ahead of him as choreographer, artistic director of American Ballet Theater, and actor. This biography of the great ballet dancer can therefore really only tell part of the "story." Two earlier books, Nina Alovert's Baryshnikov in Russia ( LJ 12/84) and Gennady Smakov's Baryshnikov: From Russia to the West ( LJ 4/15/81) have focused just on the dancer's early career.-- Ed.) The book relates important events in Baryshnikov's life--his experiences as a young dancer in Russia, and his dizzying number of U.S. dance and acting projects. Baryshnikov's personal side is presented, too, including his much publicized romantic liaisons and commitment to parenting. While the book has little new information or substantial journalistic reporting, it is, nevertheless, a serviceable and straightforward biography for the YA audience.
- Joan Stahl, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Robson Books Ltd
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0860515923
• ISBN 13: 9780860515920
• Binding: Hardcover