Dancing With Duende

DANCING WITH DUENDE is the story of a once successful writer and artist's search for the creative genius (DUENDE) that had impelled him, earlier in his life, to reach the highest levels of international acclaim. Now old, broken and forgotten, no longer possessed by the Duende's mysterious power to arouse the creative spirit, the protagonist sets out on a physical and emotional journey to challenge his duende and rediscover himself. Set in Spain's Andalusian countryside and Ireland's Aran Isles, the novel explores the emotional, physical and psychological stresses that tear at everyman's struggle for self identity in an increasing remote and impersonal world.

Employing a combination of literary techniques, including Author Narrative, Directed Dialog, Stream of Consciousness, Internal Monologue and Erlebte Rede, the author has crafted a sensitive, artistic and poetic novel that explores one man’s search to recapture the spirit that once had carried him to the highest levels of international artistic and literary acclaim. From the bull rings of Spain's Andalusian countryside to the wild and untamed Aran Islands situated offshore of Ireland's western coast, the novel traces the protagonist's lonely, brooding and tenuous physical, emotional and spiritual journey of discovery to a nameless destination over chartless waters and uncharted lands as he seeks to rediscover and awaken his DUENDE, that mysterious power, the creative brilliance and passionate fervor that consume, possess and drive exceptional artists to reach extraordinary levels of raw, visceral, and memorable literary and visual achievement. On a broader and more universal scale, the novel represents everyman’s struggle for self-identity in an increasingly diffident and impersonal world. This is Mr. Canter’s seventh novel. A National Book Award nominee, his previous works have been published in the United States and in Europe where they have received critical acclaim for their poetic and artistic literary style, their drama and creativity, and their sensitivity to the Human Condition that define's Man's humanity.

A dual US and Irish citizen, the author was an English major at the University of Pittsburgh where he studied under one of America's pre-eminent creative writing mentors and educators. Published in both the US and in Europe, the author has achieved international critical acclaim for both his poetic and lyrical writing and his mastery of multiple linguistic styles including Stream of Consciousness, Erlebte Rede, Interior and Exterior Dialogue, Author Narrative, and Direct Author Intervention. A prior National Book Award nominee, this is Mr. Canter's seventh work of fiction.