Book review: deconstructing Dirty Dancing by Stephen Lee Naish

In Deconstructing Dirty Dancing, Stephen Lee Naish unpacks the enduring popularity of the film Dirty Dancing, released to mixed reviews in 1987 before going on to become a global hit. Offering a comparative study of the film with David Lynch’s Blue Velvet before a scene-by-scene analysis and reflections on the film’s personal resonance for the author, the book is an idiosyncratic and accessible take on this cultural phenomenon, finds Penny Montague.