A Son of the Circus (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by John Irving
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Book Summary Information
Author: John IrvingEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-06-23
ISBN: 0345417992
Number of pages: 672
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of A Son of the Circus (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Book Review: A masterful comic tale of an exotic place
Summary: 5 Stars
Having read Irving for years, the "Dickensian" style is expected and revered. I have always loved the melodic prose and tangent wanderings I stroll down as Irving spins his tale. It takes a confident writer to uproot his "perspective" (for lack of a better world) and give us a book (or story) that is not from his general life. To take a reader to India and invite us into the travels and experiences as Mr Irving did was a trip I felt like taking, without looking back to see if Owen Meaney or Chipper Dove was carrying our baggage. Some writers lack the courage or imagination to take their readers to places outside of their surroundings, but Mr Irving fearlessly provides the visa.The book was tremendous: Lavish, intriguing, detailed and very funny.. Don't look for Garp of State O' Maine....Let Dr. Daruwalla engage your soul.
Summary of A Son of the Circus (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
"A SON OF THE CIRCUS IS COMIC GENIUS....GET READY FOR IRVING'S MOST RAUCOUS NOVEL TO DATE."--The Boston Globe
"Dr. Farrokh Daruwalla, reared in Bombay by maverick foes of tradition, educated in Vienna, married to an Austrian and long a resident of Toronto, is a 59-year-old without a country, culture or religion to call his own....The novel may not be 'about' India, but Irving's imagined India, which Daruwalla visits periodically, is a remarkable achievement--a pandemonium of servants and clubmen, dwarf clowns and transvestite whores, missionaries and movie stars. This is a land of energetic colliding egos, of modern media clashing with ancient cultures, of broken sexual boundaries."
--New York Newsday
"HIS MOST DARING AND MOST VIBRANT NOVEL...The story of circus-as-India is told with gusto and delightful irreverence."
--Bharati Mukherjee
The Washington Post Book World
"Ringmaster Irving introduces act after act, until three (or more) rings are awhirl at a lunatic pace....[He] spills characters from his imagination as agilely as improbable numbers of clowns pile out of a tiny car....His Bombay and his Indian characters are vibrant and convincing."
--The Wall Street Journal
"IRRESISTIBLE...POWERFUL...Irving's gift for dialogue shines."
--Chicago Tribune
From the Paperback edition.
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