A Son of the Circus: A Novel
Sep 2009 · Sold by Ballantine Books
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About this ebook
A 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
“His most entertaining novel since Garp.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A Son of the Circus is comic genius . . . get ready for [John] Irving's most raucous novel to date.”—The Boston Globe
“Dr. 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
“His 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
“Ringmaster 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
“Irresistible . . . powerful . . . Irving's gift for dialogue shines.”—Chicago Tribune
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from John Irving's In One Person.
“His most entertaining novel since Garp.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A Son of the Circus is comic genius . . . get ready for [John] Irving's most raucous novel to date.”—The Boston Globe
“Dr. 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
“His 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
“Ringmaster 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
“Irresistible . . . powerful . . . Irving's gift for dialogue shines.”—Chicago Tribune
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from John Irving's In One Person.
A 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
“His most entertaining novel since Garp.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A Son of the Circus is com...
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Ratings and reviews
4 reviews
Cindy Harrison
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July 7, 2022
my book never arrived
Tina Wilson
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March 18, 2015
Favorite book
1 person found this review helpful
Ron Meyerink
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December 5, 2025
aok
About the author
JOHN IRVING was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, when he was twenty-six. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, and coached wrestling until he was forty-seven. Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three times, winning in 1980 for The World According to Garp. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. In 2013, he won a Lambda Literary Award for In One Person. An international writer, his books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. A Prayer for Owen Meany is his best-selling novel, in every language. A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, John Irving lives in Toronto.
JOHN IRVING was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, when he was twenty-six. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, and coached wrestling until he was forty-seven. Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three tim...
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