BOOKTOUR
DOUBLE EXISTENCE
a novel
By
Adam Darius
Set in the sexually repressive climate of the 1950s, Double Existence
recounts the passionate relationship of Japan's greatest male dancer, the
wealthy Kenji Kitahara, and Sweden's most famous film star, Leif Larsson.
With its authentic atmosphere encompassing Paris, Stockholm, Bombay,
Hollywood and Las Vegas, the novel provides an intimate insight into the
world of ballet and opera, cinema and theatre, a world simultaneously dreamlike
and nightmarish, sadistic and surreal.
Kenji and Leif's struggle to love without restriction is no less relevant
now than it was midway through the 20th century. With its accelerating
and inescapable suspense, Double Existence will hold the reader
continuously in thrall.
PRAISE from all walks of life for Double Existence
"Adam Darius has written an intriguing story of fiction interwoven
with real-life historical events and personalities. Set in the glossy,
gossipy high art world of dance and film in the early 1950s, Double
Existence is about more than the trials and triumphs of two famous
lovers, Kenji and Leif; it also offers a snapshot of the covert, suppressed
homosexuality of that era, where violence, blackmail and arrest were an
ever present threat. But where in this enigmatic novel does fact end and
fiction begin? That is the real mystery."
Peter Tatchell
Britain's leading gay rights activist
"Exciting and enjoyable...It added a great deal to my understanding
of ballet and, more importantly, to my psychological appreciation of homosexual
love. I don't believe I've ever read anything that makes it so simple and
ordinary (normal?) as heterosexual love."
Dr. Allan Fromme
pre-eminent American clinical psychologist
"Compelling and cathartic...Once starting to read Double Existence,
you can't put it down. "
Kasperi Nordman
actor, National Theatre of Finland
"This is an intriguing and revealing book, deepening our understanding
of the diverse sexuality of human beings. Adam Darius, in Double Existence,
skilfully describes passion, fear and love. In a word, his art astonishes."
Agnes Scheers
former Vice-Consul, Belgian Embassy, Finland
"Exciting and thrilling...How skillfully this novel is integrated
with the elements of a detective thriller and a most passionate love story...As
a reader, I was totally inside the story, living and breathing it and so
absorbed that I began to wonder if the novel was more real than my own
existence. A dangerous book to read, Double Existence is a masterwork
of art."
Helena Romppanen
Freelance Finnish dancer and teacher
Sample pages
In UK: £5.99
In Finland: 9.00 euros
Paperback, 202 pages,
ISBN 951-98232-1-2, published 2003
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