A fifteen-year-old youth escapes a toxic home and joins the circus. For five decades, the Sword Swallower (Duke Reynolds) embarks on a journey shared with the oddest characters in our society. He learned to swallow swords while traveling with the circus freaks across the United States. He later found himself in prison, where he received a degree in musical theory from Julliard. After a terrible accident ended his career while performing on live Television, the 40-year methamphetamine addict and a tattooed sideshow performer retires in a small town in Northern California, where he meets a troubled youth struggling to find purpose in his life. Duke Reynolds decides to take the Chico Kid (Gary Robinson) on his last adventure as he attempts to save Gary from destroying himself.
Right from the start, Robinson reveals intricate knowledge about the circus, the kinds of people who live and perform there (chicken-biters; hippo wranglers; the Remarkable Half Man; Gonad, the Icelandic Giant), and the texture of ife in a sideshow. Readers will get an insider’s perspective on everyday life in this mostly lost milieu, from games of “freak poker” to the raw camaraderie to the show-must-go-on ethos that prevails even in the face of death. The characters themselves are flawed, faltering individuals who are trying their best, but often failing, amid the cards life has dealt them. Robinson brings welcome empathy to trying to understand the reasons they behave the way they do.
The novel is more an act of reminiscence and imaginative reconstruction than a traditionally plotted tale. What it lacks in conventional structure and drama, though, is offset by many tragically human moments and a sense of urgent, affecting community spirit. That’s amid countless arresting and surprising details about both Big Top living and the central friendship. Lovers of the circus and stories of personal challenges and recovery will enjoy this curious, endearing book.
Takeaway: An endearing novel of life and tragedy in a mid-century circus sideshow and after.
Great for fans of: Chandra Prasad’s Death of a Circus, Tessa Fontaine’s The Electric Woman.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: C
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B
Marketing copy: A
