Dancing Lessons

[starrwriter]

Possibly my favorite of the 77 short stories I have written:

http://starrbooks.netfirms.com/dancing.htm

[starrwriter]

Since no one has commented on this story, I will say it first:

It sounds like "Catcher in the Rye" by Salinger. I admit it -- "Catcher" was the inspiration for the story. I wanted to write a similar tale in the context of my own Midwestern background, which was very different than Salinger's East Coast upbringing. We weren't sophisticated or cosmopolitan in my little Michigan hometown, but many teenagers were just as angry and disillusioned about the phoniness of modern life as Holden Caulfield. Social bull**** is so ubiquitous it doesn't have a home ground. My public high school was every bit as cliquish as the elite private school that Caulfield attended and I was as much of an outsider as Salinger.

FYI, David is not me. He is a combination of more than one kid I knew. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Countess]

You achieved your aim. Very Salingerish. I have to admit his general disposition towards Hollywood has helped me craft my main character, Jules Vercini, as well.

If you'll forgive me the quote:

Rising from his chair, Jules staggered over to the bay window to drink in the nocturnal scenic view, but all he could see by the pale moonlight that illuminated the kitchen was a reflection of his own features, the beams casting a radiant glow upon his high cheekbones and bright, soft eyes. “Is that all I’m worth, I wonder?” he whispered to himself, running the back of his hand along his delicate jawbone. “Am I just another pretty boy who thinks he has something else to give, and I’m deluding myself with these…these flights of fantasy? Is this all there is to me – comely bone structure and a perfect smile?”
Turning around, Jules faced his father. “If so, I should really quit, I think, quit these imaginings. Perhaps all I’m really good for is a wink and a kiss, and oh, I have been lying to myself all along – such deception! Made all the more horrible because it is self-contrived.”