Books: A Mad Desire to Dance

The Amazon summary reviews, and several others I found on line, of Eli Weisel's most recent book appear to differ widely and more favourably inclined than the review in the New York Times (28/2/09). In fact it was the unfavourable review that set me on a search for other looks at what was being said about A Mad Desire to Dance.

In that search, I found an audio excerpt of the book which gave me pause and made me feel, or think, that Weisel himself may be struggling with the symptoms described by his protagonist--a form of madness, a sense of perpetual guilt and an endless, microscopic examination of what was and is the aftermath of loss and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).