PositiveThe Wall Street JournalDespite its brevity, she [Lesser] deftly introduces readers to her complex subject and his many remarkable creative achievements ... Ms. Lesser has done some, but not much, original research: The book draws upon what’s already been published, including extensive excerpts from Robbins’s correspondence and diaries. Yet she shapes them to her purposes. This is what can be called a critical biography: Robbins’s work is front and center, as Ms. Lesser zooms in on a number of musicals and ballets for in-depth analysis. Biographical facts are sometimes tossed casually over her shoulders, and sometimes not, in a way that suggests a confident and judicious consideration of what exactly she wants to emphasize ... Ms. Lesser is comfortable jumping around timewise, organizing as much according to theme as chronology. For the reader who is already familiar with Robbins’s story, that’s refreshing; in any case, it is appropriately balletic in the way it collapses time and space.
