![]() A family that goes big with everything including love and revenge. But Dunn creates such real and sympathetic characters that ten pages in, you are one hundred percent involved in a very lovingly portrayed tale of a family and its demise. When the carnival was going through tough times, father Al decided to “breed his own freak show” and with the enthusiastic participation of his wife Lil (“As she often said, ‘What greater gift could you offer your children than an inherent ability to earn a living just by being themselves?’”), started dosing his wife with “illicit and prescription drugs, insecticides, and eventually radioisotopes.”Ī story that starts off like this could so easily go in so many less-awesome directions, cautionary tale or staring at the freaks style. Or that her younger brother Fortunato (aka Chick) is some kind of telekinetic superhero. Or that her older sisters, Electra and Iphigenia, are conjoined twins. Or that her older brother Arturo the Aqua Boy was born with flippers instead of proper arms and legs with actual hands and feet. Because although they are documenting Olympia’s present, they are also used to advance the story of her childhood.Īnd holy smokes, her childhood! It’s no accident that Olympia is an albino, hunchback dwarf. Instead, she lets the “Notes for Now” have some space whenever they need to be there. But she doesn’t do that alternating chapters thing that I find somewhat offputting. Just look at this description of narrator Olympia’s mother Crystal Lil (as spoken by her dad): “And your mama…standing there like three scoops of vanilla…” Or this in reference to a certain creepy carnival follower: “Where she had been wetly repellent she was now obnoxious.”ĭunn breaks the story up into albino, hunchback dwarf Olympia’s memories of growing up in the carnival, and her “Notes for Now”, which document her stalking her adult daughter Miranda and taking care of Crystal Lil, now nearly completely blind and deaf. But I had forgotten so many of the exquisite details and what an incredible writer Katherine Dunn is. Of course, I remembered the main story, the travelling carnival owned and operated by the Binewski family. If you have read it already, maybe think about reading it again? When I picked it up, I thought I still remembered all the details and that this twisty, bumpy road could not engage me like it had all those years ago when I read and re-read it compulsively. I promise, you will add it to your list of best books ever. If you haven’t read it already, stop reading this right now and go read it. And the one book that is getting more fond glances than all the others is Geek Love. There is just no point in that.) So lately, while I’m reading some new treat, my eyes slip away to caress the spines of all the other books, fondly remembering sweet details about each one. (Because I don’t keep books I wouldn’t read again. Bookstoberead that I ignore the many shelves that house books I’ve already read and loved. I’ve been going through this weird almost panic lately, some kind of reader’s angst.
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