From Library Journal:
Swan's first novel, a captivating blend of fantasy and reality, follows the meanderings of an expiring road show through the desert Southwest. Most of the acts have deserted. Now only the giant, the magician, the midget, and the newly arrived snake dancer and her mute son travel with Dusty and his wife Alta, who is sorely tempted to abandon the troupe and Dusty's 25-year dream of fame. Using the carnival life as a metaphor, Swan paints an intriguing portrait of her "carnies" as they wander further and further into new and more tempting landscapes. Though the reader is often hard-pressed to distinguish between what is "real" and what is happening only in the imagination, this ambiguity gives the characters greater depth. Recommended for large fiction collections. Jeanne Buckley, Syracuse, N.Y.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Publishers Weekly:
This bleak, short first novel chronicles the downtrodden lives of a small band of performers, the remnants of a traveling show billed "The Carnival for the Gods." Dusty and Alta, the managers, are a high-wire team who have traveled on the road for 25 years; their companions are a magician, a midget and a giant. Dusty signs on a voluptuous snake charmer, "The Amazing Grace" (with her ruffian adopted kid), and then the troupe travels to the "Seven Cities," a mythical border haven between the U.S. and Mexico. The nomads wander about the cities of Ventura and Old Town and attempt to stage a grand carnival, but here the novel abruptly ends. While the dialogue is clever, convincing and entertaining, this motley, unattractive group's pitiful dreams provide an unsatisfying and discursive story.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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