A Son of the Circus - John Irving

A Hindi film star . . .

an American missionary . . .

twins separated at birth . . .

a dwarf chauffeur . . .

a serial killer . . .

all are on a collision course. In the tradition of A Prayer for Owen Meany, Irving's characters transcend nationality. They are misfits--coming from everywhere, belonging nowhere.

Set almost entirely in India, this is John Irving's most ambitious novel and a major publishing event. nA Hindi film star, an American missionary, a pair of twins separated at birth, a diminutive chauffeur, and a serial killer collide in a riotous novel by the author of The World According to Garp nHis most entertaining novel since Garp.--The New York Times Book Review n nA Son of the Circus is comic genius . .

. get ready for [John] Irving's most raucous novel to date.--The Boston Globe n nDr. Farrokh Daruwalla, reared in Bombay by maverick foes of tradition, educated in Vienna, married to an Austrian and long a resident of Toronto, is a 59-year-old without a country, culture, or religion to call his own.

. . .

The novel may not be 'about' India, but Irving's imagined India, which Daruwalla visits periodically, is a remarkable achievement--a pandemonium of servants and clubmen, dwarf clowns and transvestite whores, missionaries and movie stars. This is a land of energetic colliding egos, of modern media clashing with ancient cultures, of broken sexual boundaries.--New York Newsday n nHis most daring and most vibrant novel . .

. The story of circus-as-India is told with gusto and delightful irreverence.--Bharati Mukherjee, The Washington Post Book World n nRingmaster Irving introduces act after act, until three (or more) rings are awhirl at a lunatic pace. .

. . [He] spills characters from his imagination as agilely as improbable numbers of clowns pile out of a tiny car.

. . .

His Bombay and his Indian characters are vibrant and convincing.--The Wall Street Journal n nIrresistible . . .

powerful . . .

Irving's gift for dialogue shines.--Chicago Tribunen