LAURA JACOBS

A distinguished dance critic offers an enchanting introduction to the art of ballet As much as we may enjoy Swan Lake or The Nutcracker, for many of us ballet is a foreign language. It communicates through movement, not words, and its history lies almost entirely abroad -- in Russia, Italy, and France. In Celestial Bodies, dance critic Laura Jacobs makes the foreign familiar, providing a lively, poetic, and uniquely accessible introduction to the world of classical dance. Combining history, interviews with dancers, technical definitions, descriptions of performances, and personal stories, Jacobs offers an intimate and passionate guide to watching ballet and understanding the central elements of choreography. Beautifully written and elegantly illustrated with original drawings, Celestial Bodies is essential reading for all lovers of this magnificent art form.

Iris Biddle is forty years old and determined to take it gracefully. What she'd really like is to wake up one morning with all errands done, her posh custom-lampshade business ahead of schedule, and absolutely no worries. Lana Burton is a young theater critic moving up the New York hierarchy, but she's learning that some friends resent a slow climb as much as a fast one. The setting is Manhattan, but women everywhere can identify with Iris and Lana as they struggle to keep friendships afloat, the checkbook balanced, the career moving, and the morale up, not to mention achieving their dreams while staying true to themselves.