The Dance Merchants

It's the 1950s, and "learn to dance" schools are everywhere. But teaching people how to be light on their feet isn't the goal; the real hustle is getting the romance-hungry students to be light in their wallets, for as long as possible...

Robert Stoven is a 20-something virgin, two years out of the Air Force and still living with his parents, who scores a job at the New York HQ of Footfree Dance Schools-a national chain run by Donald & Rita King, the once-famous, brother-and-sister dance team. The rapacious Kings want teachers who can not only lure the students in, but keep them on the hook for years. He's okay with that, because he likes the perks...both sexual and financial. But to succeed, he has to take big risks, demanding soul-eating compromises that could destroy him. Managing that indelicate balance is like doing fancy footwork on a tightrope...and Robert Stoven is dancing as fast as he can.

"Imagine tripping the light fantastic by way of Glengarry Glen Ross. First prize, you get to run one of the other locations; second prize, you lose your cherry (for starters) with the boss lady as you work your way up. Third prize, you're fired." David Spencer, from his new Afterword.

"J. Walter Small" was a pseudonym for Walter J. Klein Jr (1928-2012), who wrote only one other novel, The Big Question, under the pseudonym "John Kenneth."