A Son of the Circus - Softcover

Irving, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345389964 ISBN 13: 9780345389961

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1995

Synopsis

Grasping for a self identity after a life spent on the move, fifty-nine-year-old Dr. Farrokh Daruwalla visits India, where he meets a variety of colorful circus characters, including dwarf clowns, transvestites, and movie stars. Reprint.

About this title

Review:

"Daruwalla is another iconic Irving figure... Irving handles this incarnadine combination of farce and horror with high speed skill, creating a compulsively readable book" (Guardian)

"[Irving] is at the peak of his powers... he plunges the reader into one sensual or grotesque scene after another with cheerful vigour and a madcap tenderness for life... entertainment on a grand scale" (Economist)

"More plot twists than the Ramayana and a cast of characters that includes dwarves, prostitutes, movie stars, tranvestites and at least one serial killer" (Daily Telegraph)

"Irving has given us that treat of treats, a wide-ranging fiction of massive design and length that encapsulates our world with intelligence and sugars the pill with wit" (Mail on Sunday)

"Daruwalla's quest for the truth is what sustains this book... a writer with the courage to follow this difficult journey while also exploring issues of poverty, racism and disease in a novel so full of humour is a writer to be treasured" (The Times)

Book Description:

A masterpiece from one of the great contemporary American writers.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0345389964
• ISBN 13: 9780345389961
• Binding: Paperback