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Geek Love: A Novel Paperback – June 11, 2002
Purchase options and add-ons
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
Their offspring include Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family’s most precious—and dangerous—asset.
As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.
- Print length368 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherVintage
- Publication dateJune 11, 2002
- Dimensions5.1 x 0.76 x 7.96 inches
- ISBN-100375713344
- ISBN-13978-0375713347
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love. | Learn more
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From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Wonderfully descriptive. . . . Dunn [has a] tremendous imagination.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Like most great novels, this one keeps the reader marveling at the daring of the author.” –Philadelphia Inquirer
“Unrelentingly bizarre . . . perverse but riveting. . . . Will keep you turning the pages.” –Chicago Tribune
From the Inside Flap
As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry,Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.
From the Back Cover
As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry," Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Nuclear Family: His Talk, Her Teeth
"When your mama was the geek, my dreamlets," Papa would say, "she made the nipping off of noggins such a crystal mystery that the hens themselves yearned toward her, waltzing around her, hypnotized with longing. 'Spread your lips, sweet Lil,' they'd cluck, 'and show us your choppers!' "
This same Crystal Lil, our star-haired mama, sitting snug on the built-in sofa that was Arty's bed at night, would chuckle at the sewing in her lap and shake her head. "Don't piffle to the children, Al. Those hens ran like whiteheads."
Nights on the road this would be, between shows and towns in some campground or pull-off, with the other vans and trucks and trailers of Binewski's Carnival Fabulon ranged up around us, safe in our portable village.
After supper, sitting with full bellies in the lamp glow, we Binewskis were supposed to read and study. But if it rained the story mood would sneak up on Papa. The hiss and tick on the metal of our big living van distracted him from his papers. Rain on a show night was catastrophe. Rain on the road meant talk, which, for Papa, was pure pleasure.
"It's a shame and a pity, Lil," he'd say, "that these offspring of yours should only know the slumming summer geeks from Yale."
"Princeton, dear," Mama would correct him mildly. "Randall will be a sophomore this fall. I believe he's our first Princeton boy."
We children would sense our story slipping away to trivia. Arty would nudge me and I'd pipe up with, "Tell about the time when Mama was the geek!" and Arty and Elly and Iphy and Chick would all slide into line with me on the floor between Papa's chair and Mama.
Mama would pretend to be fascinated by her sewing and Papa would tweak his swooping mustache and vibrate his tangled eyebrows, pretending reluctance. "WellIll . . ." he'd begin, "it was a long time ago . . ."
"Before we were born!"
"Before . . ." he'd proclaim, waving an arm in his grandest ringmaster style, "before I even dreamed you, my dreamlets!"
"I was still Lillian Hinchcliff in those days," mused Mama. "And when your father spoke to me, which was seldom and reluctantly, he called me 'Miss.' "
"Miss!" we would giggle. Papa would whisper to us loudly, as though Mama couldn't hear, "Terrified! I was so smitten I'd stutter when I tried to talk to her. 'M-M-M-Miss . . .' I'd say."
We'd giggle helplessly at the idea of Papa, the GREAT TALKER, so flummoxed.
"I, of course, addressed your father as Mister Binewski."
"There I was," said Papa, "hosing the old chicken blood and feathers out of the geek pit on the morning of July 3rd and congratulating myself for having good geek posters, telling myself I was going to sell tickets by the bale because the weekend of the Fourth is the hottest time for geeks and I had a fine, brawny geek that year. Enthusiastic about the work, he was. So I'm hosing away, feeling very comfortable and proud of myself, when up trips your mama, looking like angelfood, and tells me my geek has done a flit in the night, folded his rags as you might say, and hailed a taxi for the airport. He leaves a note claiming his pop is very sick and he, the geek, must retire from the pit and take his fangs home to Philadelphia to run the family bank."
"Brokerage, dear," corrects Mama.
"And with your mama, Miss Hinchcliff, standing there like three scoops of vanilla I can't even cuss! What am I gonna do? The geek posters are all over town!"
"It was during a war, darlings," explains Mama. "I forget which one precisely. Your father had difficulty getting help at that time or he never would have hired me, even to make costumes, as inexperienced as I was."
"So I'm standing there fuddled from breathing Miss Hinchcliff's Midnight Marzipan perfume and cross-eyed with figuring. I couldn't climb into the pit myself because I was doing twenty jobs already. I couldn't ask Horst the Cat Man because he was a vegetarian to begin with, and his dentures would disintegrate the first time he hit a chicken neck anyhow. Suddenly your mama pops up for all the world like she was offering me sherry and biscuits. 'I'll do it, Mr. Binewski,' she says, and I just about sent a present to my laundryman."
Mama smiled sweetly into her sewing and nodded. "I was anxious to prove myself useful to the show. I'd been with Binewski's Fabulon only two weeks at the time and I felt very keenly that I was on trial."
"So I says," interrupts Papa, " 'But, miss, what about your teeth?' Meaning she might break 'em or chip 'em, and she smiles wide, just like she's smiling now, and says, 'They're sharp enough, I think!' "
We looked at Mama and her teeth were white and straight, but of course by that time they were all false.
"I looked at her delicate little jaw and I just groaned. 'No,' I says, 'I couldn't ask you to . . .' but it did flash into my mind that a blonde and lovely geek with legs--I mean your mama has what we refer to in the trade as LEGS--would do the business no real harm. I'd never heard of a girl geek before and the poster possibilities were glorious. Then I thought again, No . . . she couldn't . . ."
"What your papa didn't know was that I'd watched the geek several times and of course I'd often helped Minna, our cook at home, when she slaughtered a fowl for the table. I had him. He had no choice but to give me a try."
"Oh, but I was scared spitless when her first show came up that afternoon! Scared she'd be disgusted and go home to Boston. Scared she'd flub the deal and have the crowd screaming for their money back. Scared she'd get hurt . . . A chicken could scratch her or peck an eye out quick as a blink."
"I was quite nervous myself," nodded Mama.
"The crowd was good. A hot Saturday that was, and the Fourth of July was the Sunday. I was running like a geeked bird the whole day myself, and just had time to duck behind the pit for one second before I stood up front to lead in the mugs. There she was like a butterfly . . ."
"I wore tatters really, white because it shows the blood so well even in the dark of the pit."
"But such artful tatters! Such low-necked, slit-to-the-thigh, silky tatters! So I took a deep breath and went out to talk 'em in. And in they went. A lot of soldiers in the crowd. I was still selling tickets when the cheers and whistles started inside and the whooping and stomping on those old wood bleachers drew even more people. I finally grabbed a popcorn kid to sell tickets and went inside to see for myself."
Papa grinned at Mama and twiddled his mustache.
"I'll never forget," he chuckled.
"I couldn't growl, you see, or snarl convincingly So I sang," explained Mama.
"Happy little German songs! In a high, thin voice!"
"Franz Schubert, my dears."
"She fluttered around like a dainty bird, and when she caught those ugly squawking hens you couldn't believe she'd actually do anything. When she went right ahead and geeked 'em that whole larruping crowd went bonzo wild. There never was such a snap and twist of the wrist, such a vampire flick of the jaws over a neck or such a champagne approach to the blood. She'd shake her star-white hair and the bitten-off chicken head would skew off into the corner while she dug her rosy little fingernails in and lifted the flopping, jittering carcass like a golden goblet, and sipped! Absolutely sipped at the wriggling guts! She was magnificent, a princess, a Cleopatra, an elfin queen! That was your mama in the geek pit.
"People swarmed her act. We built more bleachers, moved her into the biggest top we had, eleven hundred capacity, and it was always jammed."
"It was fun." Lil nodded. "But I felt that it wasn't my true metier."
"Yeah." Papa would half frown, looking down at his hands, quieted suddenly.
Feeling the story mood evaporate, one of us children would coax, "What made you quit, Mama?"
She would sigh and look up from under her spun-glass eyebrows at Papa and then turn to where we were huddled on the floor in a heap and say softly, "I had always dreamed of flying. The Antifermos, the Italian trapeze clan, joined the show in Abilene and I begged them to teach me." Then she wasn't talking to us anymore but to Papa. "And, Al, you know you would never have got up the nerve to ask for my hand if I hadn't fallen and got so bunged up. Where would we be now if I hadn't?"
Papa nodded, "Yes, yes, and I made you walk again just fine, didn't I?" But his face went flat and smileless and his eyes went to the poster on the sliding door to their bedroom. It was old silvered paper, expensive, with the lone lush figure of Mama in spangles and smile, high-stepping with arms thrown up so her fingers, in red elbow-length gloves, touched the starry letters arching "CRYSTAL LIL" above her.
My father's name was Aloysius Binewski. He was raised in a traveling carnival owned by his father and called "Binewski's Fabulon." Papa was twenty-four years old when Grandpa died and the carnival fell into his hands. Al carefully bolted the silver urn containing his father's ashes to the hood of the generator truck that powered the midway. The old man had wandered with the show for so long that his dust would have been miserable left behind in some stationary vault.
Times were hard and, through no fault of young Al's, business began to decline. Five years after Grandpa died, the once flourishing carnival was fading.
The show was burdened with an aging lion that repeatedly broke expensive dentures by gnawing the bars of his cage; demands for cost-of living increases from the fat lady, whose food supply was written into her contract; and the midnight defection of an entire family of animal eroticists, taking their donkey, goat, and Great Dane with them.
The fat lady eventually jumped ship to become a model for a magazine called Chubby Chaser. My father was left with a cut-rate, diesel-fueled fire-eater and the prospect of a very long stretch in a trailer park outside of Fort Lauderdale.
Al was a standard-issue Yankee, set on self-determination and independence, but in that crisis his core of genius revealed itself. He decided to breed his own freak show.
My mother, Lillian Hinchcliff, was a water-cool aristocrat from the fastidious side of Boston's Beacon Hill, who had abandoned her heritage and joined the carnival to become an aerialist. Nineteen is late to learn to fly and Lillian fell, smashing her elegant nose and her collarbones. She lost her nerve but not her lust for sawdust and honky-tonk lights. It was this passion that made her an eager partner in Al's scheme. She was willing to chip in on any effort to renew public interest in the show. Then, too, the idea of inherited security was ingrained from her childhood. As she often said, "What greater gift could you offer your children than an inherent ability to earn a living just by being themselves?"
The resourceful pair began experimenting with illicit and prescription drugs, insecticides, and eventually radioisotopes. My mother developed a complex dependency on various drugs during this process, but she didn't mind. Relying on Papa's ingenuity to keep her supplied, Lily seemed to view her addiction as a minor by-product of their creative collaboration.
Their firstborn was my brother Arturo, usually known as Aqua Boy. His hands and feet were in the form of flippers that sprouted directly from his torso without intervening arms or legs. He was taught to swim in infancy and was displayed nude in a big clear-sided tank like an aquarium. His favorite trick at the ages of three and four was to put his face close to the glass, bulging his eyes out at the audience, opening and closing his mouth like a river bass, and then to turn his back and paddle off, revealing the turd trailing from his muscular little buttocks. Al and Lil laughed about it later, but at the time it caused them great consternation as well as the nuisance of sterilizing the tank more often than usual. As the years passed, Arty donned trunks and became more sophisticated, but it's been said, with some truth, that his attitude never really changed.
My sisters, Electra and Iphigenia, were born when Arturo was two years old and starting to haul in crowds. The girls were Siamese twins with perfect upper bodies joined at the waist and sharing one set of hips and legs. They usually sat and walked and slept with their long arms around each other. They were, however, able to face directly forward by allowing the shoulder of one to overlap the other. They were always beautiful, slim, and huge-eyed. They studied the piano and began performing piano duets at an early age. Their compositions for four hands were thought by some to have revolutionized the twelve-tone scale.
I was born three years after my sisters. My father spared no expense in these experiments. My mother had been liberally dosed with cocaine, amphetamines, and arsenic during her ovulation and throughout her pregnancy with me. It was a disappointment when I emerged with such commonplace deformities. My albinism is the regular pink-eyed variety and my hump, though pronounced, is not remarkable in size or shape as humps go. My situation was far too humdrum to be marketable on the same scale as my brother's and sisters'. Still, my parents noted that I had a strong voice and decided I might be an appropriate shill and talker for the business. A bald albino hunchback seemed the right enticement toward the esoteric talents of the rest of the family. The dwarfism, which was very apparent by my third birthday, came as a pleasant surprise to the patient pair and increased my value. From the beginning I slept in the built-in cupboard beneath the sink in the family living van, and had a collection of exotic sunglasses to shield my sensitive eyes.
Despite the expensive radium treatments incorporated in his design, my younger brother, Fortunato, had a close call in being born to apparent normalcy. That drab state so depressed my enterprising parents that they immediately prepared to abandon him on the doorstep of a closed service station as we passed through Green River, Wyoming, late one night. My father had actually parked the van for a quick getaway and had stepped down to help my mother deposit the baby in the cardboard box on some safe part of the pavement. At that precise moment the two-week-old baby stared vaguely at my mother and in a matter of seconds revealed himself as not a failure at all, but in fact my parents' masterwork. It was lucky, so they named him Fortunato. For one reason and another we always called him Chick.
Product details
- Publisher : Vintage; Reprint edition (June 11, 2002)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 368 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0375713344
- ISBN-13 : 978-0375713347
- Item Weight : 8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.1 x 0.76 x 7.96 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #75,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #649 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #746 in Magical Realism
- #5,760 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Katherine Dunn was a novelist and journalist best known for her boxing reporting and her bestselling novel Geek Love, a finalist for the Bram Stoker Prize and the National Book Award in 1989. She died on May 11th, 2016. Learn more at kkdunn.com Her estate and copyrights are owned and managed by her son, Eli Dapolonia, Ph.D.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book compelling and enjoyable. They praise the imaginative and captivating story with well-crafted prose. The characters are described as vibrant, colorful, and likable. The writing style is described as elegant and intricate. Many readers appreciate the humor and artwork of the book. However, some find the disturbing story interesting but not gripping.
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Customers find the book engaging and enjoyable. They say it's a timeless piece of literature and worth reading.
"...it should be read by as many people as possible, it's a timeless piece of literature and worthy of being on the shelves of any reader who can take a..." Read more
"Geek Love is a powerful reading experience. I read this book last year and I still can't stop thinking about it...." Read more
"...And, I can see how it has reached somewhat of a, cult -classic-status, simply by virtue of its bizarre nature...." Read more
"...A strange and wonderful read...." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and interesting. It's described as imaginative, surreal, and creative. The story keeps readers hooked with its thought-provoking symbolism and characters brought to life.
"...It is at every moment inspiring and heartbreaking, with so much to take away from the book that you think back on it frequently to reassess your..." Read more
"...I found this book to be an amazing read. It is disturbing but intriguing. You will not be able to put it down...." Read more
"...Powerful, heartbreaking, maddening, frustrating, sickening, fascinating, repugnant and yet alluring, Geek Love is a tightly written masterpiece of..." Read more
"The book horrified me at first and I refused to continue reading it until I realized it was not true...." Read more
Customers appreciate the writing quality. They find the prose well-constructed, with an interesting story and engaging characters. The author's writing style is described as lyrical, elegant, and intricate. Readers praise the complex characters and the author's ability to weave an accessible yet complicated story.
"...fascinating, repugnant and yet alluring, Geek Love is a tightly written masterpiece of finding beauty in sewers, and putrescence in that which..." Read more
"There's no question that Dunn is an extraordinary writer, with undeniable creativity, but this one is NOT for everyone...." Read more
"A well-wrought and fascinating look into a hyperbolic verdin of a real culture...." Read more
"This is a totally repulsive, difficult book to read, and my adjectives are not to criticize, but to describe the content of the book...." Read more
Customers enjoy the vibrant and colorful characters. They find the subject matter told by a likable Oly in an everyday way.
"...Every character in the book is well defined and brought to the forefront, and each character has a story to tell that is uniquely their own...." Read more
"...Ms. Dunn created a unique and disturbing menagerie of characters with the story told from the perspective of the albino dwarf, Oly...." Read more
"...The cast of characters is compelling and sympathetic, even as they do things that would, at first glance, appear awful. One of my all-time favorites." Read more
"...you start to see that the plot is paper thin and the characters are not likeable enough to care about what happens to them...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's beauty. They describe it as an honest, unique work of art that is graphic and emotional. The lines between beautiful and grotesque, dark and light, funny and tragic are drawn. Readers find the ending simple and beautiful. The book is described as bold and not afraid to go where it needs to go.
"...This is not to say that Geek Love doesn't end well, the conclusion of the book is as beautiful and simple as its beginning...." Read more
"...The images from this book are strong and provocative, something you can't forget...." Read more
"...maddening, frustrating, sickening, fascinating, repugnant and yet alluring, Geek Love is a tightly written masterpiece of finding beauty in sewers..." Read more
"...I can't deny Dunn's ability to communicate vividly, and, at times beautifully, considering the subject matter...." Read more
Customers enjoy the humor in the book. They find it funny, sad, and entertaining. The book is described as anything but dull or boring.
"...-knit family story times to vicious sibling rivalry, Geek Love is anything but dull or boring...." Read more
"...Some of the characters are mean and most are crazy in a funny, appealing way. It is well written in my opinion...." Read more
"...The story line while at times incredulous and bizarre was entertaining and held my interest the whole time!..." Read more
"...family of freaks on their road to redemption was engrossing and entertaining, yet this book defies description...." Read more
Customers have mixed reviews about the disturbing story. Some find it interesting with a twisty plot and a side of horror. Others describe it as disturbing, grotesque, and sickening. The ending is strained and unsatisfying for some readers. While the subject matter is questionable, the writing is well-done.
"...It is at every moment inspiring and heartbreaking, with so much to take away from the book that you think back on it frequently to reassess your..." Read more
"...The ending is strained, somewhat unsatisfying, and yet one is left with serious issues to mull over – between bouts of OMG hilarity." Read more
"...I found this book to be an amazing read. It is disturbing but intriguing. You will not be able to put it down...." Read more
"...Powerful, heartbreaking, maddening, frustrating, sickening, fascinating, repugnant and yet alluring, Geek Love is a tightly written masterpiece of..." Read more
Customers have different experiences with the book. Some find it fascinating and engaging, with complex characters and writing that is fantastic. Others find it difficult to follow at times, with no real structure and a lack of easy reading.
"...It's not an easy book, or a light book, or a book of happy endings, but it is amazing, and worth the effort. Started: May 13, 2016..." Read more
"...n't end well, the conclusion of the book is as beautiful and simple as its beginning...." Read more
"...I loved the first half. Obviously the premise is disturbing and twisted but Dunn somehow managed to make it feel realistic and natural in context...." Read more
"...Powerful, heartbreaking, maddening, frustrating, sickening, fascinating, repugnant and yet alluring, Geek Love is a tightly written masterpiece of..." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2011I returned to Geek Love after having first read it in the 90's. After two decades I can say without hesitation that this is a book that will stick with you, and that you will remember long after you read it. For something to have that effect on you as a reader is a beautiful thing, and very rare. It is a fantastic story told incredibly well, and deals with subject matter that pleasant society probably won't be comfortable with.
The book chronicles the lives of the Binewski family and their carnival, focusing mostly on the relationships between Arturo (Aqua Man), his sister Olympia, and Olympia's daughter Miranda. It is not a book for the faint of heart or those with a gentle stomach. Geek Love is about carnival freaks, bred that way by their mother and father who believe that the more twisted they are by deformity the more precious and beautiful their very being. The book makes some poignant statements about being different and the unique outlook it can give you on life. It also points out the subjectivity of beauty and its downfalls.
Every character in the book is well defined and brought to the forefront, and each character has a story to tell that is uniquely their own. From Horst the cat man to Doctor P and Mary Lick, there isn't a single character that doesn't shine in this novel. It is hard to review this book without revealing some of the plot, which shouldn't be done as it could spoil Geek Love for those who haven't read it. The story involves the carnival heavily, familial love, sacrifice, cults, incest, and views of so called "norms" toward the geeks.
It is at every moment inspiring and heartbreaking, with so much to take away from the book that you think back on it frequently to reassess your opinion. Is Arturo merely a pompous self-absorbed jerk or is he terrified of being left alone and unloved? Do Al and Lil really not understand how hard they have made the lives of their children, are they blind to the dynamics of their family or is it too hard for them to look at as parents? was the Chick simple for all his brilliance or just too young to understand the ramifications of his actions and inaction? How can a person like Mrs. Lick not understand that she is acting out of her own pain while she "liberates" the beautiful?
This is not to say that Geek Love doesn't end well, the conclusion of the book is as beautiful and simple as its beginning. It is perhaps the greatest testament to this novel that you are left with these moral questions, it isn't often that a piece of fiction will make you think so deeply on its subject matter and on the morality of the concepts it lays out.
I wouldn't suggest this book to many of my friends for the simple fact that I don't believe they could get through Geek Love without hurling it across the room. It is offensive, but not purposefully so, it's the kind of book that shoves the world of freaks in your face and makes you feel like one. If for that reason alone it should be read by as many people as possible, it's a timeless piece of literature and worthy of being on the shelves of any reader who can take a moment to open their mind to a reality different from their own.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2012Geek Love is a powerful reading experience. I read this book last year and I still can't stop thinking about it. The images from this book are strong and provocative, something you can't forget. Just by reading the first sentence of the synopsis, parents who create their own freak show, you know that you are in for a wild and insane ride.
Ms. Dunn created a unique and disturbing menagerie of characters with the story told from the perspective of the albino dwarf, Oly. She tells of her life before and after her carny life was destroyed. Oly never considers herself a successful member of her family; but she clung to her life in the carny world. Her life revolves around her more powerful siblings. She is their caretaker and follower. She is stuck in the middle of a deadly sibling conflict.
Throughout the book, Oly takes us through all the dynamics that surround her disconcerting family. The constant battles of family supremacy continue to put Oly in the middle and she must pick sides, with the sides ever-changing. Her present consists of constantly keeping vigil over her daughter. Oly's raging emotions concerning her daughter, Miranda, are at the same time vicious and somewhat motherly. Oly's character makes you feel many things: horror, revulsion, and sympathy.
Arturo, the Aquaboy, is the main attraction at the Binewski carnival. He is totally dependent on his family for his basic needs; but he rules over them with a tyrannical fist. He constantly feels threatened, especially by his sisters, Iphy and Elly. They are in constant battle on who is the main carnival attraction. Their parents, Al and Crystal, let their creations take over, rule and ultimately destroy their family. Furthermore, Arturo has a fanatical following that eventually turns into a cult. He preaches that the only way to "Peace, Isolation, Purity" was to become like him. He is able convince his followers to have their extremities amputated to feel isolated and helpless, which feeds Arturo's megalomaniacal needs. He is truly a diabolical character.
Then there is Chick...the little innocent and dangerous boy who brings destruction to them all. All Chick wants is for his family to be happy. However, h e is the one who brings a brutal finality to this tragic sibling rivalry.
I found this book to be an amazing read. It is disturbing but intriguing. You will not be able to put it down. Be careful not to read it before you go to sleep because you will have some serious funky dreams. I DID!
Top reviews from other countries
- HollyReviewed in Canada on August 11, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the faint of heart
This book is truly something else. Katherine Dunn did a wonderful job of switching up the horror genre with this rather subtle horro that gets more and more disgusting as the plot progresses, all the while tempering it so you're not shocked out of the water.
It's been a long time since I've been as disgusted by a book, and intrigued at the same time. This will be one of my favourites for years to come.
- Eitan Benavides OriginalReviewed in Mexico on June 15, 2021
4.0 out of 5 stars Fine.
Pages change colors and materials, and are not the best quality, but okay overall.
-
ACEReviewed in France on August 31, 2020
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinant
Quoi dire de ce roman ? Etrange. Dérangeant. Dégoutant. Et pourtant, prenant et...fascinant. C'est peut-etre le meilleur terme que je puisse trouver. Fascinant!
On est là à se demander "mais où va aller cette hisoire ?" Mais surtout "jusqu'où ?". Parce que oui, elle va loin cette histoire. Ohhh qu'est-ce que ça va loin? Certains ne le supporteront peut-etre pas. C'est certain.
Mefiez-vous de la quatrième de couverture de cette édition anglaise, qui parle d'histoire d'amour. Ben... c'est que... si ça est de l'amour, c'est une amour (des amours) maladif, malsain, incestueux...
- ✖️Phil.Crossland✖️Reviewed in Spain on January 20, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!
A great read although disturbing at times you just can't help loving the story and freaky characters.A must read for anyone who likes something a little different.
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars It's a fascinating read and I would thoroughly recommend it.
The book starts with a couple who meet at his circus, she works as a geek, that is, she bites the heads off live chickens while wearing a white dress and singing Schubert. They are not doing too well due to freak staffing shortages, so, by drug and radiation manipulation during her pregnancies, they try to create their own family freak show, resulting in a boy with flippers for hands and feet, Siamese twin girls, a bald albino dwarf girl and a boy with strange powers; and six jars of strange and deformed Human foetuses. Then it all starts to get a bit weird.
The book is narrated by Olly, the dwarf girl. I don't want to give anything away, but this book is spiritual, ethical, philosophical, and it examines some deep aspects of inter-family behaviour. It's a fascinating read and I would thoroughly recommend it.
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