We chatted a little about him as a person and as a dancer/choreographer, the astonishing ballon he showed as the sole male dancer in Balanchine's Danses Concertantes, the influence he had on Balanchine's "grotesqueries," particularly in The Four Temperaments and Agon, and Todd's own choreography, such as The Still Point, which Jacques had danced with Melissa Hayden in New York City Ballet's 1956 staging, a year after its creation at Jacob's Pillow.

The Four Temperaments system of classification is built upon the balance of the Four Elements.

As in her first novel, The Four Temperaments (2002)--which, among other things, also concerns adultery and its corrosive effects upon a marriage--McDonough here skillfully devotes each chapter to the perspective of a different character, thus clarifying each individual's motivations so that no one is demonized for his or her actions.