The circus in winter : [fiction

From 1884 to 1939, the Great Porter Circus makes the unlikely choice to winter in an Indiana town called Lima, a place that feels as classic as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, and as wondrous as a first trip to the Big Top. In Lima an elephant can change the course of a man's life-or the manner of his death. Jennie Dixianna entices men with her dazzling Spin of Death and keeps them in line with secrets locked in a cedar box. The lonely wife of the show's manager has each room of her house painted like a sideshow banner, indulging her desperate passion for a young painter. And a former clown seeks consolation from his loveless marriage in his post-circus job at Clown Alley Cleaners. In her astonishing debut, Cathy Day follows the circus people into their everyday lives, bringing the greatest show on earth to the page. From Publishers Weekly Day's debut collection spins graceful, elegant circles around the inhabitants of Lima, Ind.—especially the acrobats, clowns and circus folk of the Great Porter Circus who spent their winters there from 1884 to 1939. The poignant opening tale reveals how Wallace Porter, distraught by the death of his beloved wife, came to own his eponymous menagerie. The second, "Jennie Dixianna," introduces the dazzling, tricky Jennie, who wears her wound from her Spin of Death act "like a talisman bracelet, a secret treasure" and plots her way into Wallace's heart. Other stories tell of the young black man who plays at being an African pinhead; the son of a trainer killed by his circus elephant; the flood that devastated the circus. Thanks to finely observed details and lovely prose, each of these stories is a convincing world in miniature, filled with longing and fueled by doubt. Day, who grew up in a town like Lima and descends from circus folk herself, uses family stories, historical research and archival photographs to weave these enchantments. Though her stories often contain tragedy and violence—death in childbirth or from floodwater, cancer, circus mishap—they're also full of beauty. In "The Bullhook," Ollie, a retired clown, spends long decades with his frigid wife, waiting, armed with his father's bullhook, for death to come for him. In "Circus People," Ollie's granddaughter reflects on her fellow itinerant academics, "my latest circus family," and muses about people all over America who leave the place they grew up: "when the weather and the frequency are just right, we can all hear our hometowns talking softly to us in the back of our dreams." B&w illus. Copyright В© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist The secret lives and loves of circus people and their descendants are revealed in these 11 linked short stories. From 1884 to 1939, the small town of Lima, Indiana, hosts the Great Porter Circus during the winter months. Wallace Porter buys the circus on the eve of his beloved wife's death, claiming he has "seen the elephant." He never remarries but has a secret affair with Jennie Dixianna, the erotic acrobat who seduces men and keeps their secrets locked in a cedar box. Bascomb Bowles and his wife, Pearly, recount their sideshow adventures as "pinheads," and the tales are handed down to their son, Gordon. Gordon becomes an expert on elephants and witnesses a horrific accident involving his favorite elephant and the trainer. Ollie Hofstadter, son of the elephant trainer, leaves a career as a clown after the murder of his best friend. Years later Gordon tells Ollie the true story of his father's death. A fascinating period in American history inhabited by colorful characters and told in a lively manner. Kaite Mediatore Copyright В© American Library Association. All rights reserved Over a half century, a small Indiana town hosts a circus troupe during the off-seasons in linked stories “as graceful as any acrobat's high-wire act” (San Francisco Chronicle).A Story Prize FinalistFrom 1884 to 1939, the Great Porter Circus made the unlikely choice to winter in an Indiana town called Lima, a place that feels as classic as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, and as wondrous as a first trip to the Big Top. In Lima, an elephant can change the course of a man's life—or the manner of his death. Jennie Dixianna entices men with her dazzling Spin of Death and keeps them in line with secrets locked in a cedar box. The lonely wife of the show's manager has each room of her house painted like a sideshow banner, indulging her desperate passion for a young painter. And a former clown seeks consolation from his loveless marriage in his post-circus job at Clown Alley Cleaners. In this collection of linked stories spanning decades, Cathy Day follows the circus people into their everyday lives and brings the greatest show on earth to the page.“[An] exquisite story collection.” —The Washington Post“Often funny, always graceful, and rich with a mix of historical and imaginative detail.” —Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried“Sublimely imaginative and affecting.” —The Boston Globe From 1884 to 1939, the Great Porter Circus makes the unlikely choice to winter in an Indiana town called Lima, a place that feels as ordinary as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, and as wondrous as a first trip to the Big Top. Over three generations, the circus transforms this small town, providing a magical backdrop to daily life. In Lima, Indiana, meeting an elephant can change a man's life or the manner of his death. Jeanne Dixianna entices men with her dazzling Spin of Death and keeps them in line with secrets locked in a cedar box. The lonely wife of the show's manager has each room of her house painted like a sideshow banner, indulging her desperate passion for the young painter. And a loveless marriage in his post-circus job at Clown Alley Cleaners. In Lima, legend and lore outlive the circus itself, luring contemporary inhabitants to faraway places in search of the adventure that has moved on. The connected tales of The Circus in Winter display the rise and fall of an American circus. Cathy Day follows the performers and their progeny into history, vividly bringing the everyday lives of circus people to the page. --front flap

From 1884 to 1939, the Great Porter Circus makes the unlikely choice to winter in an Indiana town called Lima, a place that feels as classic as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, and as wondrous as a first trip to the Big Top. In Lima an elephant can change the course of a man's life-or the manner of his death. Jennie Dixianna entices men with her dazzling Spin of Death and keeps them in line with secrets locked in a cedar box. The lonely wife of the show's manager has each room of her house painted like a sideshow banner, indulging her desperate passion for a young painter. And a former clown seeks consolation from his loveless marriage in his post-circus job at Clown Alley Cleaners.

In her astonishing debut, Cathy Day follows the circus people into their everyday lives, bringing the greatest show on earth to the page.

A Unique Novel Charts The Long Relationship Between The Great Porter Circus And A Small Town In Indiana, Where Circus Folk And Small-town Inhabitants Mingle In A Series Of Long-term Relationships That Cross Into Both Worlds. Display No. 1 Wallace Porter -- Display No. 2 Jennie Dixianna -- Display No. 3 The Last Member Of The Boela Tribe -- Display No. 4 The Circus House -- Display No. 5 Winnesaw -- Display No. 6 The Lone Star Cowboy -- Display No. 7 The Jungle Goolah Boy -- Display No. 8 The King And His Court -- Display No. 9 Boss Man -- Display No. 10 The Bullhook -- Display No. 11 Circus People. Cathy Day. A unique novel charts the long relationship between the Great Porter Circus and a small town in Indiana, where circus folk and small-town inhabitants mingle in a series of long-term relationships that cross into both worlds. 35,000 first printing. The Circus in Winter is the debut novel/short story collection by American author Cathy Day published in 2004. It was a runner up in the inaugural Story Prize. and a finalist for the GLCA New Writers Award and the Great Lakes Book Award. Contains eleven connected stories about the lives of performers in the Great Porter Circus, and their interactions with the citizens of Lima, Indiana, the town where the circus spends the winter season, from 1884 to 1939