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Man's adventure takes readers on a wild circus ride Date published: 8/20/2006
By EMILY BATTLE Jacob Jankowski is a strait-laced boy from Norwich, N.Y., getting ready to graduate and follow in his father's footsteps as a veterinarian, when tragedy strikes. His parents are killed in an accident, and Jacob learns that the bank failures that preceded the Great Depression and the expense of his Ivy League education have left the family with nothing, and him with no home, no veterinary practice, no life. He runs deliriously until he hops aboard a train that happens to be carrying the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, and the complex, colorful world that Sara Gruen creates in "Water for Elephants" begins to reveal itself. Gruen tells her readers in an author's note at the end of the book that the story was inspired by a newspaper article about a photographer who followed traveling circuses in the 1920s and '30s. She took numerous research trips to delve into the history of the American circus. And what a colorful history it is. Many of the details in the book are taken from real-life anecdotes Gruen gleaned during her research. Her cast of circus characters includes an array of standard circus freaks, alcoholics and back-stabbing businessmen. During parts of the book, these people seem much more interesting than Jacob, who at times comes off as being just a little too good and ethical to be traveling with the Benzini Brothers. "Uncle Al," the show's general manager, is portrayed as a self-interested, conniving businessman whom Jacob describes as a vulture rushing off to feed off whatever is left when he learns that a rival circus has folded. It is through this process that the show acquires Rosie, an elephant who is deemed dumb by her seller, but who turns out to be one of the book's most intriguing characters. Rosie plays a pivotal role in the engaging plot's final twist. It takes a while for Gruen to give her readers a good idea of what that plot will be, but she keeps them onboard while she gets there by using the circus world to explore an interesting period in American history.
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 8/20/2006
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