Book Description
Clown Girl lives in Baloneytown, a seedy neighborhood where drugs, balloon animals, and even rubber chickens contribute to the local currency. Against a backdrop of petty crime, she struggles to live her dreams, calling on cultural masters Charlie Chaplin, Kafka, and da Vinci for inspiration. In an effort to support herself and her layabout performance-artist boyfriend, Clown Girl finds herself unwittingly transformed into a "corporate clown," trapping herself in a cycle of meaningless, high-paid gigs that veer dangerously close to prostitution. Monica Drake has created a novel that riffs on the high comedy of early film stars — most notably Chaplin and W. C. Fields — to raise questions of class, gender, economics, and prejudice. Resisting easy classification, this debut novel blends the bizarre, the humorous, and the gritty with stunning skill.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic!.......2007-09-23
I can't do this book any justice by writing a review. The reviews on the back of the book didn't tell me what I was going to get out of it, it was extremely personal. Monica Drake was able to combine issues such as: unintentional and intentional creative whoring in business, the sickness of life, love defined in a Buddhist fashion and a sensational struggle resolved in a finale defining the category of a classic. The character development is such that I have already imagined who I would cast for the film. I have already passed the book along to a friend as a MUST READ, and if they don't I will doubt we ever had anything in common at all. Or they're just too busy or too lazy. My favorite book... that's what this is.
i AM clown girl.......2007-08-29
i loved this book. Monica Drake is such an amazingly descriptive writer i felt like i was living in Nita's world. it was heart wrenching and darkly funny. i related so much to Nita, all her ups and "pratfalls". i didn't want the book to end.
A very good debut.......2007-08-12
I, like most people, probably checked this out because of Chuck Palahniuk's name on the cover. This was a very good novel, and it definatly kept my interest throughout, but lacked in shocking moments that seem to occur in Chuck's books. Also it was a very short read, but definatly worth checking out.
Make Me Smile.......2007-07-18
As I understand it,a book focused on a clown should make you laugh(with tears mixed in).I did and so will you.I compare it to A Confederacy of Dunces.Monica's debut stands on it's own,w/out Chuck Palahniuk's endorsement.Bada Boom!
One of the Best of 2007.......2007-07-15
Monica Drake creates a world where clowns just are part of the scenery. Her main character is extremely well drawn and her struggle to find her muse, live her life and relate to others is superb. A strong debut book. I'll absolutely pick up whatever Drake does next.
Customer Reviews:
The most important clown book you can have!.......2007-01-04
My absolute favorite clowning book! If you can only get one clowning book get this one! Covers everything!!! Whenever I am writing clown shows I always go to this book. There are so many skit, gag and prop ideas in this book to build off of. It is truly GOLD!!! In addition to all the skit, gag and prop ideas it also covers make up techiniques as well as costuming. This book stays not on my book shelf or even out on a table but in my truck, so I always have access to it even when I am at work. I think one of the things that really makes this book so special to clowning is the fact that it is not just one author, there are around 10!! Each one writing on their speciality or passion.
I really wish they would come out with a second eddition of this book that would include websites and email address of clown scripts, ideas, gags, etc.
Perfect Book for the Novice.......2002-12-18
I'm considering setting up as a childrens entertainer, so I purchased a good few books. This is without doubt the best of the bunch.
The book covers lots of aspects of clowning, gives great ideas, and is an easy read.
The only downside is that it does not have space to go as in depth in some areas as I would of liked - but there are plenty of speciality books to do so.
If you are a serious clown...er...wait a second.......2002-11-04
Every hobby has one or two definative books. This is it for clowning. Everything I wanted to find out and more. Like any good reference book it started me down the path and I have read several books recommended.
If you are going to get into clowning you need this book.
An inspiring book indeed!.......2001-09-28
Having read four customer reviews of this book, I might have had high expectations. Maybe I didn't realize it's true value at first, but after learning various skills, you may want to try others, which didn't catch your interest at first. Then you realize how powerful a tool this book is.
Until now I've focused on juggling and unicycling. The book not only teaches you how to ride a unicycle, -it also provides a lot of amusing variations. Though I knew how to ride before buying this book, it taught me how to ride in a very ridiculous way, seemingly out of control. I've experienced a tremendous effect when acting upon these hints in front of an audience. ...
Just recently I grew interested in the stiltwalking sections and made a pair of wooden tie-on stilts. I'm not exactly an engineer, but following the instructions, all I needed was a saw, some wood, a drill, some glue, some bolts and screws.
Reading the ingenious instructions given sometimes make me laugh out loud, thinking of how it would work in real life. The illustrations are really amusing, and I do enjoy all the hints on starting a clowning business. Lots of detailed information.
Also, the book is packed with numerous jokes and material that can be used for shows. The next stage for me will be learning how to twist balloons into different animal shapes.
I was actually looking for a book on how to put on clowns' make-up for my unicycling. This book is all you need to know about various types of make-up for various clown types, plus so much more. If you're thinking about clowning, either for fun or for money, I highly recommend this book!
Creative Clowning for the Beginner!.......2000-08-02
I thought this book was informative, extremely informative for new clowns. You get a history of clowning, pictures of famous clowns, and jokes on most of the pages to use when performing. There is a chapter on how to develop your own clown character which also explains the different types of clowns (Whiteface, Auguste, Tramp and Character), their makeup and their character. Mimes are not excluded either! Topics covered are: clown outfits, props, routines, expression, timing, and working with partners. There are even chapters on balloon art, puppets, juggling, stilt walking, unicycling, and balancing objects. I found the last few chapters very helpful. They gave tips on designing your own business cards so people won't throw them away and how to get bookings and also how much to charge. There is a great Publications and Organization section full of books and suppliers. I would certainly recommend this book to any one who is interested in clowning around! This book has it all!
Average customer rating:
- I hated for it to end.
- Shalimar the Clown
- better than the last two
- Rushdie does the impossible!
- Understanding the killer clown.
|
Shalimar the Clown: A Novel
Salman Rushdie
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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ASIN: 0679783482
Release Date: 2006-10-10 |
Book Description
“Dazzling . . . Modern thriller, Ramayan epic, courtroom drama, slapstick comedy, wartime adventure, political satire, village legend–they’re all blended here magnificently.”
–The Washington Post Book World
This is the story of Maximilian Ophuls, America’s counterterrorism chief, one of the makers of the modern world; his Kashmiri Muslim driver and subsequent killer, a mysterious figure who calls himself Shalimar the clown; Max’s illegitimate daughter India; and a woman who links them, whose revelation finally explains them all. It is an epic narrative that moves from California to Kashmir, France, and England, and back to California again. Along the way there are tales of princesses lured from their homes by demons, legends of kings forced to defend their kingdoms against evil. And there is always love, gained and lost, uncommonly beautiful and mortally dangerous.
“A commanding story . . . [a] harrowing climax . . . Revenge is an ancient and powerful engine of narrative.”
–The New York Times Book Review
“Absorbing . . . Everywhere [Rushdie] takes us there is both love and war, in strange and terrifying combinations, painted in swaying, swirling, world-eating prose that annihilates the borders between East and West, love and hate, private lives and the history they make.”
–Time
“A vast, richly peopled, beautiful and deeply rageful book that serves as a profound and disturbing artifact of our times.”
–San Francisco Chronicle
“Marvelous . . . brilliant . . . a story worthy of [Rushdie’s] genius.”
–Detroit Free Press
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
– The Washington Post Book World –Los Angeles Times Book Review –St. Louis Post-Dispatch –Rocky Mountain News
ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS OF THE YEAR
–Time –Chicago Tribune –The Christian Science Monitor
Download Description
Salman Rushdie is the author of 8 previous novels —
Grimus,
Midnight’s Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the “Booker of Bookers”),
Shame,
The Satanic Verses,
Haroun and the Sea of Stories,
The Moor’s Last Sigh,
The Ground Beneath Her Feet and
Fury — and one collection of short stories,
East, West. He has also published 5 works of non-fiction:
The Jaguar Smile,
Imaginary Homelands,
The Wizard of Oz,
Mirrorwork and
Step Across This Line.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
I hated for it to end........2007-09-12
This was one book I just couldn't put down, and I was dreading when it would end. It has a style all it's own.
Shalimar the Clown.......2007-09-05
Rushdie has an amazing grasp of the English language. He could have written nonsense--luckily, he does not--and I would still have enjoyed it because of the way he artfully spells it out on paper.
better than the last two.......2007-08-28
This was a good story, particularly the last quarter of the story. Rushdie's prose style is entertaining, though without a good story, it can be difficult to enjoy. The Ground Beneath Her Feet and Fury each struck me as really lacking. Rushdie was working outside his normal setting---mostly in western, crossing to eastern, rather than eastern passing to western--and it didn't work. Here, there was the magical aspect (toward the end) that helps the story transcend. I don't need to hear about rock and roll from Salman. I do need to hear about the cultures and language and imagery from someone who knows better than me, namely him. Sadly, gone are the mystic days of Midnight's Children and the Moor's Last Sigh. But Shalimar's walking on air builds the tension and excitement that reminds me of Shame, in which the crazed beast-girl circles into her target at the end. The pages almost seem to catch fire with the rush. Shalimar isn't quite there, but it's fairly good. As always, there seem to be some politics are work nearby. Rushdie discussed some of this with Fareed Zakaria, specifically the "unrest" in the Kashmir region. That conflict is the underlying setting for the novel.
Rushdie does the impossible!.......2007-08-22
I didn't think it was possible to top Satanic Verses and not in a million years Midnight's Children, but the author has done it. Shalimar is fantastic. What accolades does one hang on the book that tops the Booker's Booker Award winner? Bravo Mr. Rushdie!
Understanding the killer clown........2007-07-27
"There is nothing funny about a clown in the moonlight."--Lon Chaney.
Booker Prize winner, Salman Rushdie's (1947) 2005 novel, Shalimar the Clown, tells the story of India, the illegitimate daughter of a former American ambassador to India, Maximilian Ophuls, now a counterterrorist expert. The novel opens outside India's Los Angeles apartment, where Ophuls is brutally murdered by his enigmatic chauffeur, the book's title character. Readers are left wondering if it was a terrorist attack.
More of a political thriller driven by revenge than a novel about terrorism, Rushdie's suspenseful narrative soon reveals through several flashbacks that, while in Delhi, Ophuls seduced a beautiful Hindu girl, Bhoonyi, who was Shalimar the clown's Kashmir wife, and the object of all his love and affection. Not wanting to return to her village, Bhoonyi intentionally gets pregnant and Ophuls is forced to leave the country. The baby girl, India, returns with his wife and is raised in the West. Meanwhile, Shalimar channels the anger of his betrayal into becoming a renowned Jihadi assassin. As one would expect from Rushdie, the writing here is nothing less than impeccable, and perhaps more accessible than the inspired prose of his earlier works, Midnight's Children (1981) and The Satanic Verses: A Novel (1988). Highly recommended, except for those with coulrophobia.
G. Merritt
Average customer rating:
- Extraordinary
- Clown of God
- Loved this Book!
- The Gift of One's Talents
- Wonderfully moving masterpiece
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The Clown of God
Tomie dePaola
Manufacturer: Voyager Books
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ASIN: 0156181924 |
Book Description
In this retelling of the old French legend, a juggler offers to the Christ Child the only Christmas gift he has. “The full-color pictures with subtle tonal modulations are an integral part of the design of the lumious pages full of movement and vitality. The Italianate aspects of the setting are beautifully realized.”--The Horn Book
Customer Reviews:
Extraordinary.......2007-03-09
This retelling of an ancient moral story along with the superb pictures make it a necessary addition to the select library used by grandparents and parents for reading aloud, over and over again, to the young ones.
Clown of God .......2007-01-12
This book is a great read for all ages. A strong life lesson and a touching story that will reach out to those who are interested in a book that teaches something about life.
Loved this Book! .......2007-01-10
I love this book. Five in a Row has a great unit study on it. My children (3 yrs and 6 yrs) love it too. It has juggling to appeal to children and it has a beautiful ending. I have bought it for gifts as well as having my own copy.
The Gift of One's Talents.......2006-08-23
I remember this tale from my childhood when it was read to me by a nun. Tomie De Paola has beautifully illustrated this story and retold it by placing the events in medieval Italy. Since this is one of my favorites, I have purchased several copies for my grandchildren, and a gift to other grandparents who like reading to the little ones. Be prepared to feel the emotion of this story, it gets me all the time.
Wonderfully moving masterpiece.......2006-07-10
Some stories are offered and they are nice to listen to, and that is all. Other stories are told and they linger in your mind, they captivate the possibility that life, my life, can be live differently. The Clown of God remains for me an enchanting tale that I return to time and time again. My three year old son loves hearing the story!
The pictures are simple and reflect the simple nature of the story without overwhelming the words and meaning. De Paola has fashioned this story more than adequately.
As to its meaning? Well, a good story never has just one meaning and each time I read The Clown of God, something that was once hidden is revealed, even if just for a moment. Perhaps what is so captivating is the possibility that God delights even in something as a person who is a skillful juggler. God delights in people expressing the beauty of who they are, even in old age when everyone else ignores them or derides them.
A timeless classic which will remain on my shelves, and be shared with as many as possible, child and adult, for many years to come.
Average customer rating:
- "Clowns work as well as Aspirin, but twice as fast" Groucho Marx
- "The Fool Is The Mask The Wise Man Wears"
- 1000 Clowns : More or Less
- Great visual history!
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1000 Clowns : More or Less
H. Thomas Steele
Manufacturer: Taschen
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ASIN: 3822826235 |
Book Description
The clown imagery gathered here ranges from beautiful to touching to funny to just plain disturbing. Find all kinds of clowns, from the most famous to the most obscure, in photographs, film and television, paintings, and graphics. The insightful text will enlighten you about the history of clowns throughout the world and is complemented by a list of America's clowns, a clown filmography, and the "Eight Clown Commandments."
Customer Reviews:
"Clowns work as well as Aspirin, but twice as fast" Groucho Marx.......2006-12-23
This book gives a very good sample of the clowns' wide appearance in America and art in general. The author writes one or two pages (in English, German, and French) about each of the topics of the book, including: Photography, Film & Television, Paintings, Graphics, America's Clowns, Clowns in Movies, and Clown Code of Ethics. The author's view is very interesting and unique, and the pieces chosen to appear in the book are wonderful. An excellent book on the subject. See below a quote from the introduction.
"Those with curious minds seek to decipher the soul that inhabits the body of the clown behind the facade of grotesque face makeup and colorfully outlandish costume. In equal parts comedy and tragedy, joy and pathos, practical joker and devilish prankster, the clown has long been a fixture, both embraced and feared, in American entertainment."
"The Fool Is The Mask The Wise Man Wears".......2005-10-11
Jim Heimann and H. Thomas Steele's definitive 1000 Clowns: More or Less: A Visual History of the American Clown (2004) offers abundant evidence that professional clowning may represent the ultimate in alternative lifestyles.
Though playful behavior is, of course, found in some higher animals, the human activity of professional clowning is always a highly artificial process enacted within a specifically structured framework, thus making the clown a legitimate, knowing, and complexly-organized insider who nonetheless often essays the role of eternal outsider.
Clowns are 'betwixt and between' liminal creations whose behavior simultaneously reflects experience and innocence, callousness and sensitivity, seductiveness and repulsion, sincerity and deception. Whether performing in the center spotlight or merely acting as a diversion for another act, the clown is always on stage and constantly negotiating the space between the objective world of his audience and his own very private channels of perception, spontaneity, insight, and response. The truly successful clown becomes an autonomous personage, a "demigod of the sawdust" who subtly persuades his audience to forget the unknown human factor beneath the facade.
The gorgeous visuals in 1000 Clowns--which are categorized under "Photography," "Film & Television," "Paintings," "Graphics," "America's Clowns," and "Clowns In Movies"--underscore the fact that those clowns that appear bizarre, repulsive, and grotesque, such as those that appear on pages 114-116, are typically those with badly designed or haphazardly applied makeup. The stronger the design, artifice, and illusion, the more attractive and desirable the clown; some historical examples presented here include Lou Jacobs, Harry Dann, Felix Adler, Emmett Kelley, "Chucko the Birthday Clown," and baby boomer favorite Bozo.
1000 Clowns wisely focuses on the classic high period of the American circus, which, uncoincidentally, also coincided with the high point of Twentieth Century American culture.
1000 Clowns : More or Less.......2005-07-28
Brilliant. Easy and fast transaction. hope we can do business again.
Great visual history!.......2005-01-10
This book came out of left field for me, usually I keep abreast with current clown and/or circus offerings. But the pictures, photo's and images relating to clowns in America is well worth the price.
The author has done a wonderful job gathering a vast number of clown images from circus, film,TV and advertising to create a collection ranging from well-know circus legends like lou Jacobs and Emmett Kelly to TV clowns like Milton Berle and Red Skelton to obscure and unknown clown performers. The sections on clowns in media contain great retro grafics and a diverse number of related clown imagery.
The only downside would be the lack of ID on some of the circus clowns, and the inclusion of the clown creed, which seems unrelated to the images or the art form.
I'm looking foward to a second volume.
Customer Reviews:
quite sick man was he.......2007-07-30
this book was about one of americas most well known serial killer, john wayne gacey. as far as the book goes.. it was well written with some nice photo pages. i didnt know to much about these crimes and i did learn alot from reading the book.. there are some parts that are pretty graphic (like the part about finding his fecal encrusted dildo.... yea.. gross i know..) but over all it was fun to read .. sort of get inside his head
house of horrors.......2006-12-30
This book starts with the disappearance of Gacy's last victim, Rob Piest, and ends when he is found guilty on the murder of 33 boys. This book is probably the most accurate account of Gacy's crimes.
The author, Terry Sullivan, took part in the investigation, and that is why this book is so detailed. You get to know who Gacy really was. Funny and keen to help anyone who needed help when he was in a good day, a brutal sadist in a bad day. Because Terry Sullivan talked to Gacy in person, you get to know what drove Gacy to do these horrible murders.
I still find it incredible how Gacy was able to have a normal life and fool everyone. The people of Des Plaines never knew a sadistic serial killer lived amongst them, until he was arrested.
Gacy...one sick twisted clown!.......2006-07-17
Terry Sullivan did an excellent job on the book, this book was chilling and captivating. Gacy was a horrible sexual sadist that sexually tortured many young men and boys.
The book had some boring parts thanks to Gacy's always trying to toy with the cops, but once you got past them it would get interesting again.
Hearing the boys testify on the stand at the end was bone chilling, especially when you think about what they actually went through that left some speachless as they tried to speak of their horrific incidents with that cruel inhumane defendant Gacy taunting them with smirks.
I do however think more pictures of the victims in the book would have made it all the more sad and while the book spoke alot about Rob Piest i think his picture should have been in the book. These were such good looking young men and sweet faced boys that were so sexually, brutally murdered, the more you show these victims the angrier you get at Gacy, the sadistic killer clown.
Outstanding book on the Gacy case.......2006-04-18
Recently re-read this book after many years. Terry Sullivan, member of the legal team that prosecuted Gacy and sent him to jail (and ultimately, his execution) has written an excellent and thorough account of the Gacy case. The book begins with the disappearance of Gacy's last victim, which triggered a massive law enforcement investigation and surveillance operation and led to the arrest of Gacy. Sullivan also recounts Gacy's initial confession to police for some of the murders (in later years he completely denied committing all but one murder) and his trial, focusing a great deal on the psychiatric testimony presented to determine Gacy's sanity.
This is an outstanding book that covers all aspects of the case. The lives of several of the victims are given a voice in the book through the accounts of their surviving family members, who recount the last time they saw their sons alive, as well as the frustrating efforts made to try to find them.
The book's flaw, perhaps, is Sullivan's choice to (I feel) overly detail the investigation section of the book and really test the patience of the reader by doing so. Virtually any police officer or detective who had any connection at all with the initial investigation of the case, it seems, is mentioned. I'm guessing Sullivan's intent was to be as thorough as possible in documenting the efforts made to track down and arrest Gacy, as well as provide credit where credit is due to the police officers who made it happen. But so many names are mentioned that it's sometimes difficult to follow. Details are provided that do nothing to advance the story (specific meals ordered in restaurants, coffee purchased that spills during a high speed chase, etc.). Once Gacy is captured, though, and the excavation of the crawlspace begins, the story picks up and holds you from there.
Sullivan's sensitivity in his portrayal of the victims and their surviving families is particularly moving. Beyond the lurid aspects of the crime, the book ultimately leaves you with a feeling of sadness. It conveys the tragedy of young lives lost better than any other book I've read on Gacy.
If you read only one book on Gacy, I would highly recommend "Killer Clown" as it provides the most thorough account of the case. You may have to be patient through the first third or so of the book, but stick with it, as it's a very worthwhile read. It's also less graphic than another outstanding book on the subject, Tim Cahill's "Buried Dreams", which offers an insight into Gacy's evil psyche that is truly frightening, and may be too much for some readers.
Great!.......2005-10-04
I found this book looking through a wal-mart book rack looking for something to read before i went back to basic trainning after christmas leave. i started it on the airplane and found myself awaiting the next page over and over again. this book became an obsesion to me. all i could think about was getting back at the end of night to read this book. i'm not going to explain the story because it already has been. but if your someone who is interested in serial killlers this is the best book about gacy to pick up!
Book Description
Written by the towering Turk Pipkin, a 6' 7" professional clown, BE A CLOWN! The Complete Guide To Instant Clowning provides the know-how, techniques, encouragement--and official red plastic nose--needed to put kids of all ages in the center ring. This lively, humorous handbook covers all aspects of clownmanship, including makeup, funny faces, costume (how to make big clown shoes at home), and props like the Bouncing Hankie. Fully illustrated throughout, it reveals step-by-step the secrets of Slapstick, Timing & Takes, and Juggling. Develop your own oddball walk, swallow chair legs--you'll always have a stunt up your sleeve. 72,000 copies in print.
Customer Reviews:
Fatastic Book that reads and rereads itself... Almost!.......2001-09-11
This is a great book for clowns, starting or otherwise. Lots of interesting ideas that warrents plenty of rereading. I have read this over and over again at least six times, and each time, I pick up something new, with spin offs coming from his ideas. The book is written with a informal, easy going style that makes really easy reading too, and the clown nose that comes with the book is a fun perk, though peeling it off damages (Or at least, for me) the book. We've (Zephyhdom, a clown company in Singapore) has used many ideas from this book and have found it useful... I hope you will too!
Be a Clown!.......2000-06-26
A very nice book - light, easily read, many photos, with a good insight to the mind & heart of a clown. This lively, humorous handbook covers all aspects of clownmanship, including makeup, funny faces, costume, and props. Encourages the reader to create a clown persona with many photos and suggestions. Several getting-started routines are included. Written by the towering Turk Pipkin, a 6' 7" professional clown. Includes plastic clown nose. The more I read it, the more I like it.
This is a great book for starters!.......1998-10-30
This is a great book to begin with but I am just starting out and don't see this book as being the only book for me. This book is, however, very well written and easy to understand.
good book a must for starting clowns.......1998-04-14
i am a kid who is thinking about being a clown i have been buying almost every book on the subject. this is a good book to teach you the fundementals of clowning but dosen't cover what it takes to be a real clown
You'll catch the "bug" for clowning and creating........1998-02-23
Encourages the reader to create a clown persona with many photos and suggestions. Several getting-started routines are included. MISSING: he makes wonderful suggestions about creating a flea circus routine but just try to find a book or resource about THAT. It left me wanting MORE!
Average customer rating:
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Tales From My High School Locker: Diary of a Class Clown
Keegan Garner
Manufacturer: PageFree Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1589615328 |
Product Description
A hilarious collection of stories from the high school life. "Tales from My High School Locker" tells wild antics that we can all relate to.
Amazon.com
"This was no random act of malice," proclaims stage manager Nicholas Bracewell, after an audience brawl disrupts the latest comedic performance by Westfield's Men, in Edward Marston's The Vagabond Clown. If there was any doubt of design behind this affray, it's quickly dispelled by the discovery of a dead spectator in the gallery, Fortunates Hope--stabbed in the back. So who wielded the dagger, and why? Bracewell and the other members of his troupe haven't the time to find out, before they are ousted from their usual stage in Elizabethan London and forced to take to the road for their income, beginning a tour of the Kent countryside that will bring them even more trouble than they could typically find in the English capital.
Misfortune is guaranteed when--needing a clown to stand-in for the querulous Barnaby Gill, whose leg was broken during the riot--the company hires his hated but gifted rival, Gideon Mussett. Aware of Mussett's reputation for "drunkenness and truculence," Bracewell wrests from him a pledge to behave. However, this proxy jester proves difficult to handle from the outset, and only becomes more so as his performances gain Westfield's Men acclaim. Among his supposed infractions are several prankish attacks on the injured Gill, who has insisted on traveling with Westfield's Men in order to ensure that Mussett won't try usurping his position. But Bracewell thinks fault for his company's recent adversities may lie, instead, with another, less successful band of thespians who are also traveling through the area, and whose patron knew the murdered Hope. He's convinced of their culpability after Westfield's Men are ambushed on the open road, Gill is threatened with drowning, and Giddy Mussett is assaulted in a stable. Somebody, it appears, is determined to bring the curtain down on Bracewell's band, once and for all.
The Nicholas Bracewell novels (of which The Vagabond Clown is the 13th) offer a fulfilling blend of hilarity and heart, romance and mystery. And Marston's flair for capturing both the upright and ribald elements of his Elizabethan setting is to be envied. If there's any disappointment in these pages, it's that a late scene involving a sea chase never achieves the swashbuckling excitement it promises. --J. Kingston Pierce
Book Description
When unexpected disaster strikes Lord Westfield's Men during a packed performance, Nicholas Bracewell must save the day. Will a vagabond clown prophesy the end of the troupe, and perhaps the demise of Nick himself? Longtime readers of mystery master Edward Marston will line up to find out in this suspenseful entry in a fan-favorite, Edgar-nominated series.
Customer Reviews:
Thirteenth Book in a Wonderful Series.......2006-12-01
Edward Marston is the pseudonym of Keith Miles, a fairly prolific and extremely good writer of mainly Elizabethan and medieval mysteries. He has also written mysteries under his own name with both sporting and golf backgrounds. However it is primarily the books that take place earlier in history that I am interested in. He read modern history at Oxford and has had many jobs, including university lecturer, but fortunately for all his readers, he turned to the writing profession.
Regular reader's of the series will know that Lord Westfield's Men are probably the most accident prone troupe of actors that ever went on a stage and it is always the company's stage manager Nicholas Bracewell who has to untangle the web of intrigue that seem to follow them wherever they go. Once again they have been struck by an unexpected disaster. A melee caused by men in disguise is brought under control, but before the troupe can attempt to recover what they can of their damaged set, Nicholas discovers a body in the stands. A body with a knife sticking out of its back . . .
The author's love for the Elizabethan theatre comes shining through this series of books. Plus his knowledge of the period fills the pages with authenticity and the sights and sounds of the streets and inns of Elizabethan London.
Marston sends in the clowns!.......2004-02-21
"The Vagabond Clown" is the latest in the Edward Marston series ("An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell") and the author continues to maintain his
flair for the dramatic!
Once again, Westfield's Men, in which Nicholas is the stagemanager "and all around performer of miracles," find themselves in a lot of trouble! Owing to a devastating
brawl during one of their performances at the Queen's Head Inn, the troupe has to exit stage out-of-town, as so much damage has been done to the Inn and their stage proprieties,
there is nothing left for them but to head to Kent to recoup their losses. A major injury to the players is that Barnaby Gill, their erstwhile clown, was injured (a broken leg) in the
melee.
Alas, during said brawl a young man is found dead in the bleachers, a dagger sticking out of his back. Nick and his colleagues know this is murder but cannot imagine
how it relates to them.
But without a clown, the players know they cannot go on. Thus, when Nick recommends one Giddy Mussett, everyone stares askance at the suggestion. Giddy is known as a brawler, a drinker, and a lecher! He is also in debtors prison. After securing his release--and his promise to be on good behavior--Westfield's Men head for the country.
And while the show must go on, it goes with much ado about murder and more mayhem. Someone is out to destroy the players. And not far into their tour, Giddy is found
murdered. It is for Nick to figure all this out.
Marston, of course, takes us though the paces and by the final curtain, all's well that ends well. It goes without saying, particularly if you'ver ead any of this series, that
Westfield's Men save the day.
The author does an excellent job of staying in character--his historical mysteries also include The Domesday Book Series--and "The Vagabond Clown" is no exception. It's light,
fun reading, especially if one likes historical whodunits. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)
Murder and Bigotry.......2004-02-12
Edward Marston is a well regarded writer, known for his series featuring detective-actor Nicholas Bracewell. His latest novel, The Vagabond Clown, seems at first to be a light-hearted book based in the Elizabethan period. However, the ending of the novel has a surprising twist that demonizes Catholics.
Marston depicts Catholic villains who feel entitled to murder and torture anyone who insults their religion on the public stage. They are painted as broad brush representatives of all Catholics and depicted as members of a great conspiracy, spies for the pope, thieves, murderers, smugglers, etc. Admittedly, many Elizabethans might have believed this, but bigotry need not be replicated in a contemporary historical novel without the necessity of offering some kind of balanced viewpoint to counter it. To do otherwise is to reinforce a previous era's stereotypes and thus add fuel to the fires of religious or racial intolerance.
Instead, the author fans scurrilous flames in the voice of his hero. Nicholas Bracewell opines that, when the "truth" comes out, it will "shake" others' "faith" in the Catholic religion and lead them to abjure their religion. He again trots out "truth" as a defense for libel, when Bracewell asserts that the plays merely "laid bare the iniquities of Popery."
Excuse me, but I assumed that kind of pap went out with Guy Fawkes Day lynchings!
Colorful Elizabethan mystery.......2003-08-06
The Westfield's Men acting troupe consider themselves very lucky while in London to be based at The Queen's Head Inn. It has an enclosed yard that is perfect as an outdoor theatre and it even has balconies for the aristocrats and wealthy merchants that want to attend a play without mingling with the common folk. When a riot breaks out during a play they are giving, one of their star performers is injured and a man in the balcony is murdered. It is clear to all that someone wanted to use the riot as a diversion for the killing.
The proprietor of the Queen's Head throws out the actors forcing them to take to the road. They hire a substitute player temporarily until the injured actor is ready to perform again. However, every place they stop they are welcomed by villains who try to sabotage their performances. At one stopover, a player is killed and Nicholas Bracewell, the book holder and the glue that keeps the company together, realizes somebody is out to destroy the company and he intends to stop them.
Readers are privy to what happens behind the scenes in a traveling troupe's entourage. Westfield's Men are a diverse lot of actors who are at times act petty and argumentative but are at the same time loyal to one another and the troupe as a whole. They love to act and it shows in the risks they take but it is Nicholas Bracewell, a hired hand, who manages to rise above the ensemble to make Westfield's Men one of the best acting troupes in Elizabethan England.
Harriet Klausner
Average customer rating:
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Clowns of the forest
Esse Forrester O'Brien
Manufacturer: Steck Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B0007E3K38 |
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