The Blue Moon Circus - Hardcover

Raleigh, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1402200153 ISBN 13: 9781402200151

Publisher: Sourcebooks Inc, 2003

Synopsis

Together with a magician, a snake handler, a Russian animal tamer, and a nine-year-old orphan, ringmaster Lewis Tully tours the American West in 1926 with his circus act for one last time before settling down.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Raleigh teaches writing, literature, and history at Truman College in Chicago, where he has taught for twenty-two years. He also teaches fiction workshops at the Newberry Library. He is the author of six previous novels, most recently In the Castle of the Flynns, and has received four Illinois Arts Council grants for fiction. He lives in Chicago with his family.

From Publishers Weekly:

Lewis Tully, the proud, resilient protagonist of Raleigh's rollicking, warmhearted seventh novel, ekes out a living managing a circus in Oklahoma circa 1919, even though his Blue Moon Circus and Menagerie is prone to hardships devastating enough to shut down show after show. A catastrophic flood is the latest disaster, forcing Tully to retire permanently. Fast-forward to 1926, when Tully is being tried in court for gambling at a speakeasy. The judge (a family friend) suspends his jail sentence with the stipulation that Lewis return to circus life for one more try. With confidence that mounts as the story gains momentum, Tully manages to round up most of his original group of performers, including an aging but agile posse of clowns, a pack of feisty animal acts, a terrifyingly unique snake charmer, a red-haired ape, and mind reader Harley Fitzroy, "the greatest magician there ever was." Along for the ride is nine-year-old Charlie, a new arrival in Tully's life since Tully's sister Alma can no longer care for the boy. Despite the threats of a rival circus owner, vindictive Hector Blaney, and the memory of past failures, Lewis bravely takes his show on the road. Dozens of successful performances across the Western states buoy his spirits, but then Hector Blaney's henchmen try to sabotage the campground. It is another natural disaster, however, that delivers the final blow to Lewis's circus career. As dramatic and engaging as a high-wire act, the novel combines honest storytelling with down-home wit. There's plenty of smartly written, feel-good fun under this big top.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sourcebooks Inc
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1402200153
• ISBN 13: 9781402200151
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288