Daringly embellishing Nureyev's life, from his humble beginnings as a Russian peasant to his later years as a Cold War exile who earned the adoration of millions, McCann tells the fascinating story of ballet's greatest performer through a chorus of compelling voices. From the obscure to the famous, from the real to the imagined, shoemakers, nurses, translator, and hustlers take center-stage alongside Margot Fonteyn, Erik Bruhn, and Andy Warhol. At the heart of this lavish spectacle stands the artist himself, willful, lustful, ambitious, and driven by a tragically unfulfilled perfectionism. In vivid, electric prose Colum McCann evokes the humanity behind the mask offset by the glittering reflection of the myth. The result is a monumental twentieth-century story of love, art, fame, and exile.

Colum McCann is the author of two short story collections and two previous novels; he has received a Pushcart Prize, the Rooney Prize, the Hennessy Award, and been an IMPAC finalist. In 2002 he was named the first winner of the Princess Grace Memorial Literary Award. A contributor to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, and GQ, he lives in New York City with his wife and children.