Reader's Ink discussion

1. This novel used Short Stories to tell about Circus life. Did it enhance the story-line or did you find it missing something?

I personally thought the story was good, but the flow seemed to lack some for me.

That's what I thought too. Another author that writes in this format is Alice Hoffman. In her books though, the story ends but it flows right into the next story. Good examples: Blackbird House and The Red Garden

I thought something was off with the flow, but it was also one of the less interesting books I've read related to circus life. Most of the stories only vaguely related to the circus. It was more a story about life in a small town. The circus in winter had a lot of potential, and it bothered me that it was so underutilized.

I tend to like novels that really get at the essence of something or someone via sort of unrelated short stories--I think it's more reflective of reality. More layered. That said, this particular novel seemed to be skirting the circus stuff much of the time, except for perhaps the Dixon piece and the elephant one. Lauren is right--the novel is more about a town than the circus, since they only dwell in Lima during the off-season (winter), when they're not all circus-y. So, that part didn't bug me. For me, the jumps forward in time were so quick and huge--it made it tough to get attached to characters or a storyline.