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The Circus: Addiction and Recovery
"THE CIRCUS is a creative mind taken hostage by DEMONS."Christopher G. Moore - Award-winning author.
"WITNESS THE flowering of increasingly evil acts… a darkly riveting tale of twisted brotherhood set against the backdrop of the Big Top."Alasdair McLeod. Author and Poet.
"STRANGE is still capable of throwing flames."People, Things, and Literature.
"STRANGE is the new NORMAL." Sliced Magazine.
"WRITES with a FLAMETHROWER."Crime author Timothy Hallinan.
Roll up, roll up...
Meet The Bearded Lady, The Strongman, Jimmy the Tightrope Walker, and Joey the Clown.
LIFE in the circus has turned STRANGE.
JIMMY has run AWAY from THE CIRCUS while his brother JOEY the CLOWN has murdered a feral kid and the cops are closing in fast ... Captain POPOV, the alcoholic human canon-ball, books a spell at the secure mental rehabilitation THE FARM where all the characters splurge together in a delicious cocktail of disaster and recovery..
THE CIRCUS is a dazzling three-ring act and tour de force with a WICKED twist to the tale.
J.D. Strange has been described as "terrifically gifted, enormously energetic," by Edgar nominee Timothy Hallinan, and a writer who "strips away the bull****" by Shamus winner Christopher G. Moore.
"WITNESS THE flowering of increasingly evil acts… a darkly riveting tale of twisted brotherhood set against the backdrop of the Big Top."Alasdair McLeod. Author and Poet.
"STRANGE is still capable of throwing flames."People, Things, and Literature.
"STRANGE is the new NORMAL." Sliced Magazine.
"WRITES with a FLAMETHROWER."Crime author Timothy Hallinan.
Roll up, roll up...
Meet The Bearded Lady, The Strongman, Jimmy the Tightrope Walker, and Joey the Clown.
LIFE in the circus has turned STRANGE.
JIMMY has run AWAY from THE CIRCUS while his brother JOEY the CLOWN has murdered a feral kid and the cops are closing in fast ... Captain POPOV, the alcoholic human canon-ball, books a spell at the secure mental rehabilitation THE FARM where all the characters splurge together in a delicious cocktail of disaster and recovery..
THE CIRCUS is a dazzling three-ring act and tour de force with a WICKED twist to the tale.
J.D. Strange has been described as "terrifically gifted, enormously energetic," by Edgar nominee Timothy Hallinan, and a writer who "strips away the bull****" by Shamus winner Christopher G. Moore.
136 pages, Paperback
Published May 20, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 23, 2020
The Circus
J.D. Strange
J.D. Strange’s The Circus walks the tightrope between a novella and novel. The ends of that tight rope are anchored between a world of illusions and a world of hardscrabble reality. You watch as the characters flip, dance and murder their way between one world to the other.
The Circus is a strange, hidden nest of vices and perversions embedded in the head of one creative mind taken hostage by the demons of alcohol and drugs. The spectacle like all good circuses pulls your attention from the main show to the sideshows going on at the same time. Clowns, tightrope walkers, animal trainers, human cannon balls—all rich ores to fashion metaphors in a cloistered world of ‘others.’ Think of Schrödinger's cat which is both alive and dead.
There is a potted history of the circus that runs in short paragraphs throughout the book as an anchor point to reality. Shakespeare, Borges, Baudelaire to Tolstoy make brief appearances. The book shares a heritage with Ken Kesey’s 1962 unforgettable One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. We find a character not unlike the Chief in Kesey’s novel. The other book that comes to mind is Chuck Palahniuk’s 2001 Choke about a sex addict. Like Choke, the main character is fighting addiction in a multi-front war that includes drugs, booze and sex.
The Circus follows the tradition of Kesey and Palahniuk patrolling the border between sanity and madness. What sets it apart is the unrelenting drive to solve an inner mystery that creeps around on soft paws like a stalking cat and grabs you as you are the songbird singing your heart out. Like a character in the story who is fated to spend his life being shot out of a circus cannon, the reader finds himself willing to be loaded into the barrel for one thrill after another, as the adventure becomes an addiction.
From cannon fodder to tight rope walker, much of what happens to us remains outside our control. Booze, drugs and sex are a way to escape this harsh reality of our personal circus. It is why addicts and crazies converge under the big tent of life and perform unable to sever the puppet master’s strings.
J.D. Strange
J.D. Strange’s The Circus walks the tightrope between a novella and novel. The ends of that tight rope are anchored between a world of illusions and a world of hardscrabble reality. You watch as the characters flip, dance and murder their way between one world to the other.
The Circus is a strange, hidden nest of vices and perversions embedded in the head of one creative mind taken hostage by the demons of alcohol and drugs. The spectacle like all good circuses pulls your attention from the main show to the sideshows going on at the same time. Clowns, tightrope walkers, animal trainers, human cannon balls—all rich ores to fashion metaphors in a cloistered world of ‘others.’ Think of Schrödinger's cat which is both alive and dead.
There is a potted history of the circus that runs in short paragraphs throughout the book as an anchor point to reality. Shakespeare, Borges, Baudelaire to Tolstoy make brief appearances. The book shares a heritage with Ken Kesey’s 1962 unforgettable One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. We find a character not unlike the Chief in Kesey’s novel. The other book that comes to mind is Chuck Palahniuk’s 2001 Choke about a sex addict. Like Choke, the main character is fighting addiction in a multi-front war that includes drugs, booze and sex.
The Circus follows the tradition of Kesey and Palahniuk patrolling the border between sanity and madness. What sets it apart is the unrelenting drive to solve an inner mystery that creeps around on soft paws like a stalking cat and grabs you as you are the songbird singing your heart out. Like a character in the story who is fated to spend his life being shot out of a circus cannon, the reader finds himself willing to be loaded into the barrel for one thrill after another, as the adventure becomes an addiction.
From cannon fodder to tight rope walker, much of what happens to us remains outside our control. Booze, drugs and sex are a way to escape this harsh reality of our personal circus. It is why addicts and crazies converge under the big tent of life and perform unable to sever the puppet master’s strings.
October 14, 2020
Read in two sittings - compelling stuff. The story is a great reveal, horrifying and captivating in equal measures. LOVED the ending too - a real payoff. The real star is the prose though - it's written in a brilliantly staccato rhythm that drives the narrative forward. Will be checking out more of Strange's stuff. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews