Dirty Dancing fans like myself won't want to miss this incredible cultural critique of the lasting impact and before its time feminism that was involved in the making of and wide audience appeal that was this movie and its iconic actors!! This was so great on audio and I learned a lot to make me appreciate one of my favorite movies even MORE!! Job well done to Canadian author, Andrea Warner!!

Thank you to ECW Press and to NetGallery for and ARC of this book.

I am a huge fan of Dirty Dancing, When I saw this book and received my ARC of it I was really excited. This book certainly didn't disappoint. If you are a fan of the movie, this is a great one to read!

Although clearly the author is extremely fond of her subject, this book is far from a puff piece just promoting the film and not really look at very deeply. Neither is it a completely unbiased thorough analysis of the film. Rather, it is an examination of the ways in which the film was surprisingly groundbreaking from its young female protagnist to its central abortion plotline. If you have never liked Dirty Dancing, this book is not going to make you fall in love with it, but if you have always enjoyed it, this book will give you a new appreciation for it. If you haven't seen it, and you plan to, I wouldn't recommend reading the book as it contains numerous spoilers.

This short appealing book is part of a Pop Classics series in which authors explore the themes and significance of favorite movies. Since Dirty Dancing is one of my favorite movies, I enjoyed journalist Andrea Warner’s analysis of the continuing fan worship of the movie. Granted, many profess mainly their worship of hot Patrick Swayze as Johnny. But she recalls the emphasis on feminism, class conflicts, current political attitudes and events, and the important abortion subplot. Warner attributes the long-lived loyalty and popularity of Dirty Dancing to the inclusion of these issues into a colorful summer romance movie. I enjoyed reliving my attraction to the film through these comments.

The Time of My Life: Dirty Dancing by Andrea Warner is a captivating analysis of the timeless appeal of the film Dirty Dancing, delving into its themes of feminism, activism, and reproductive rights. Warner's smart, humorous, and insightful perspective offers a fresh take on the beloved classic. Through meticulous research, this book eloquently demonstrates that Dirty Dancing is not merely a dance movie or a romance but a powerful commentary on important social issues.

A personal look at Dirty Dancing from the author’s perspective. No we may not agree with everything they are saying but is a good critique of the film and its themes.

This book, which really isn't a book, isn't exactly what I thought it would be. I thought it would be more of a behind-the-scenes look at the movie Dirty Dancing, but it's really a long-ish personal essay about the author's thoughts and feelings about the movie. I appreciated the insights from the screenwriter and producer of Dirty Dancing, Eleanor Bergstein, because I've never read any interviews with her, but otherwise I found it to be over explanatory (any fan of the movie who would read this doesn't need a line-by-line summary of various scenes) and repetitive, especially for something that's only novella-length.

The Time Of My Life is a discussion of the movie Dirty Dancing. The book reads like a long essay/dissertation, with very political content - it really wasn't what I was expecting.

The narrative reads in a very dictatorial fashion, almost as if the author's view is the right one - although I totally disagreed with the music discussion! It was interesting to read another view on the movie, but at times it felt like the author's strong views were imposed on the film, I didn't (and still don't) see it in the same way at all. It also felt to me like it needed a further edit, to reorganise and sort repetition.

Worth a read of you are a fan of the film, but be prepared to potentially disagree with the contents!

It’s surprising to see how many women have been influenced by this movie. I personally blame it for my attraction to older men since I was a teenager, but I was surprised by how differently it influenced the author’s politics. This is not a history of the film itself. There is a lot of information about its creator, as well as the authors, the music and the big plot points. It also discusses the sequel(s), a theatrical version and a TV series. But this is mostly the author’s own interpretation of the movie and how it molded the person she has become. Despite being on the opposite end of the spectrum (as a Catholic, my views on abortion have never changed), I still found her opinions illuminating. Still, I wasn’t expecting such combative prochoice content. As a book about one of my favorite childhood movies, I enjoyed it, but it was too political and not what I was expecting.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#ECW Press.

I could have read this in one sitting if I had not started it right before bed. I'm torn with this one. I loved it as a fan of the movie but it seemed like the author was writing a college essay maybe. The author is a liberal activist so down with capitalism, the patriarchy, and abortion for all. I always love people who write books and hate capitalism. Ummm...you want consumers to buy your product so you get money, but down with capitalism. So the majority of this book is a love letter for abortions. The author says Dirty Dancing is an abortion movie. I disagree. I understand the movie only happens because of Penny's abortion, but it is a coming of age story and a romance. The author also rates the songs and of course the popular songs are at the bottom of her list. She actually says that Bill Medley's voice takes up too much space and he should have been more of a supporting figure to Jennifer Warnes. What?! It is a duet. They are both amazing. Then she trashes She's Like the Wind. Patrick Swayze is singing how he is not good enough for her. He is vulnerable and believes he is not worth anything. That he is a nothing. It is a beautiful song. One of the things I love about the movie is how they fall in love and don't just jump into bed like so many other romances nowadays. I love Patrick Swayze in it. I also love the coming of age of Baby. One of my favorite scenes, besides the finale, is when Baby confronts her dad and says how he lied to her too. She has been living in a bubble and finally sees how the world really is. And why did the author have to bring up the 2017 version of Dirty Dancing that was an abomination? I had forgotten about it for good reason! So I did not watch the film a million times and become a feminist or activist like the author did but I will continue to watch it over and over for the love story, the music, and the dancing.

This book whisked me back in time and made me love Dirty Dancing all over again. Little things I'd forgotten about came back in the forefront. I loved being transported back.

Going into this, I had already read and watched pretty much every essay, analysis, and book on Dirty Dancing, as it is my favorite movie of all time. So as I was reading, some of the information presented wasn't new to me, and at times those pieces felt like a bit of a drag. However, that's not really Warner's fault. What I absolutely loved about this, though, was the inclusion of how the film has impacted Warner's experiences. I felt like I could relate to this so much. Another section I adored was the soundtrack analysis. Besides reading and watching films, music is one of my interests and passions. This topic was refreshing, as I have not seen it in much other media about Dirty Dancing. Overall, this is great for DD fans, and I definitely recommend it.

Thank you to #NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC.

I have no idea how many times I've seen Dirty Dancing or listened to the sound track because I can't tell you but it's a lot so I knew I had to read this book.

As it started out it summarized the movie and I'm like don't tell me the whole book was going to be summarized like this but I knew it couldn't be. It analyzed not only the movie and the scenes but also about feminism, the characters, etc. I also learned a lot about the author and how she related to it.

It also went into the music.

I was sort of surprised that in print, it was only 120 pages but even though it was such a small book, it really was a lot of information including the 2 sequels (one film and the other for tv both panned) and the traveling show too that the author didn't like either.

I really enjoyed it though and did learn things I never knew about the movie, music, etc. though I did know some things being a big fan of the movie, Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze (r.i.p.), etc.

Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner is my favorite line and it always will be.

A love letter to the film Dirty Dancing and the legacy it has had, to this day.

I am a huge fan of the film and so this was the perfect book for me to read. The author gives such fantastic insight into the story, music and legacy (both good and bad) the film had and will suit anyone with interest in the film.

I recently watched the film "Dirty Dancing" for a film class and we compared it to "Flashdance" (which I absolutely loved). But watching them both again, I could see that the female characters in "Dirty Dancing" have so much more agency and don't depend on the men in their lives to complete them. Andrea Warner brings a feminist lens to the film and I found myself appreciating the messages and framing of the film even more now. The film is about summer romance (the romance that changes you and gives you confidence but ends when Fall comes). But it is also has a clear statement about women's right to choose and a reminder of what life was like before "Roe vs. Wade.." She talks about the music which is so incredibly memorable and other insights into the filming of the movie. Subsequent remakes sound terrible in that they tried to change up the formula too much. This movie is a classic and is relatable to me as a coming of age story.

Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for an ARC, and I voluntarily left this review.

This book might have the most boring cover in the history of books! This book is part of a series where authors explain the profound meaning of movies they love. It reminded me of the equally interesting Object Lesson' series. Warner explores Dirty Dancing, both from a feminist, class and coming of age point of view. She explains the movie and the impact it had on her, on others and it's legacy, both good and bad. the author is deeply invested in the movie, as well as the social justice messages she extracts from it, and is simultaneously not blind to the limitations of the movie. While this is an interesting read, it did become a little repetitious.

We have purchased this book and it is very well received.

Very well written and just enough detail to make us feel as though we are part of the story.

A few interesting tidbits, but overall a good/great read.

I'm a huge fan of the film Dirty Dancing so I was very excited to read this book! The author is a similar age to me so her writing about when she first saw the film and how it made her feel was so relatable. I really enjoyed the opening of the book and the writing about the reaction to the original script and how Dirty Dancing's writer fought so hard to have the film made. It was interesting to read the abortion section and how embedded within the script it was. However, I did find the book could have done with a bit of restructuring as it felt a little repetitive at times and it jumped around. On the whole though I enjoyed this one and I'm glad I read it.

This is, as you may have worked out from the title, a book on Dirty Dancing. I enjoyed the read, and there are some excerpts from interviews and other pieces of information which were genuinely interesting.

There’s a bit on the music where the author talks about how the soundtrack is all over the place, chronologically and stylistically speaking. It mashes up fifties with eighties, girl groups with *that* duet - and yet, it works. That bit made me want to listen to the soundtrack, and reading the book made me want to watch the film.

As much as I liked it, I think it could have done with a restructure - the writing was quite repetitive in terms of the themes. Re-structuring, editing to tighten up the essays and centre each one around a specific subject point.
Also, I was surprised at the number of references to the same handful of sources - ‘The Movies that made us’, for example. I didn’t read a huge number of original content across the different chapters.

This is suitable for fans of Dirty Dancing - it might be best just to watch it again on TV though.

I liked the section of the book discussing the abortion plot of the movie and how significant it was and still is. Genuinely worth reading.
I liked the part that analyses the importance of a young woman led movie that tells a story of sexual awakening and discovery through her perspective. It didn't say anything new but it does argue the value of Dirty Dancing as a movie in its time.


The rest of the book though, not so much.
I didn't expect this book to be so much about the author's personal life. For such a short book, a lot of it felt like it wasn't relevant or important to the points being made but rather, told the personal story of the author's relationship with the movie which wasn't as interesting to me.
I would have preferred a more in depth look at the cultural context of the times in which the film was released rather than the familial context of the author, for example.

I also would have liked more attention given to the flaws of the movie (the appropriation of Black culture and the lack of fat characters, as examples) that the author mentions but goes over quickly. They are very important and would be essential to discuss where we to talk about the relevance of the movie today, which I thought was an aim for the book that falls short of its goal.
A lot of space in this book is lost to bashing the musical adaptation as well as the other movies (which, they deserve, but takes attention away from the main movie discussed in the book) that could have been used for more important topics.



I would still recommend it to fans of the movie as I think it makes interesting points, but don't expect too much.


Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.