[3] The book begins on the Eastern Front during World War II, with Nureyev performing for injured Soviet soldiers as a child.

It covers his good fortune in gaining the chance to study ballet in his home country, his success there and then his life, work, loves and excesses as a celebrity after his defection to the West.

She suggested that for those who do not already know the facts of the story, frustration may be caused by McCann's approach of highlighting snapshots of brilliance and hectic energy while not elaborating sufficiently on the details of the historical events.

[1] Possible frustration was also mentioned by Suzy Hansen's review in Salon, in that the book does not give a clear picture of just what it is that makes Nureyev tick.

[4] In The Stinging Fly, David Woelfel also expressed admiration for McCann's energetic and intense prose, although he found the descriptions of some characters in the West clichéd, and those of some events in the East to be "retrospective grandstanding".