The Aerialist: A Novel
By:
Sign Up Now!
Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title.
Learn about membership options,
or view our freely available titles.
- Synopsis
- This latest title in the Sewanee Writers's Series is a gritty debut novel in the tradition of Tom McGuane and Pete Dexter that chronicles a young man's retreat into the darkly glamorous world of the circus. Venice, Florida: On the edge of town sits the winter headquarters of a traveling circus. One day Gary, a drifter, signs up for a job as a bullhand with the circus. Everyone has heard of the ringmaster, the trapeze artist, and the clown, but Gary soon learns that the circus includes others as well: the 24-hour man, the first to arrive in a town to poster the way to the circus grounds; the bullhands who remove elephant excrement from under the animals' bodies; the butchers who distract the audience from the circus spectacle selling them cotton candy or lemonade; the animal people who care for the animals and keep to themselves. Gary instantly falls in love with this new life, riding the circus train from one town to the next in the odd hours of the night. This acclaimed debut tells of a hapless, magical existence--a life for which Richard Schmitt's characters have abandoned everything and nothing at all. In it, the circus unfolds as a wealth of human energy and ambition, and Schmitt emerges as a talent with a magical voice and a high-flying future.
- Copyright:
- 2000
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Book Size:
- 295 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9781585670703
- Publisher:
- The Overlook Press
- Date of Addition:
- 08/08/15
- Copyrighted By:
- Richard Schmitt
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Literature and Fiction
- Submitted By:
- Approval Queue Volunteer 4
- Proofread By:
- Tomoko Miles
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.