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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Aligning with popular belief, I believe this to be Katherine Dunn’s magnum opus. This story came out in the late 80’s at the core of the transgressive movement in cinema and literature. This book is disgusting (in the best way possible). It’s visceral. It’s got black humor. It’s devastating and biting. The book follows the Binewski family which is full of a cast of diverse characters (My favorites being Chick, Crystal Lil, and Vern, who is not apart of the family). It has many twists and turns and spans time effectively making it easy to blow through page after page. I finished this book in 2 days and I felt a swarm of emotions. This book deals with isolation, identity, and individualism. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. 5/5. I have a list on letterboxd that is filled with movie recommendations that are reminiscent of the scenes and themes of the book. https://boxd.it/BLAqW
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood
Found at the Humane Society Thrift Store. I'm about to see if it's worth reading a third time ...
I was gifted this book by an ex lover because I was a big fan of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story season 4 appropriately titled “Freak Show.” While I’m a fan of Murphy’s work, In her book Geek Love, Katherine Dunn takes a different approach concerning our understanding of the traditional freak show.
She removes the typical onlooker/outside fear associated with freaks and instead pulls the reader in through the eyes of Olympia Binewski, a freak herself, who actually fears normalcy and any disruption to her abnormal family/family business.
Dunn’s character descriptions and development are apparent throughout the book from Oly, to Oly’s strange brother “Chick,” and the rest of the Binewski family and crew.
I was so happily engrossed in this book and am terribly sad I won’t get to hear Oly’s voice, as I imagine it, in my head anymore.
She removes the typical onlooker/outside fear associated with freaks and instead pulls the reader in through the eyes of Olympia Binewski, a freak herself, who actually fears normalcy and any disruption to her abnormal family/family business.
Dunn’s character descriptions and development are apparent throughout the book from Oly, to Oly’s strange brother “Chick,” and the rest of the Binewski family and crew.
I was so happily engrossed in this book and am terribly sad I won’t get to hear Oly’s voice, as I imagine it, in my head anymore.
BLEH. BLEH BLEH. More like 2.5 stars. I should’ve loved this book. I should’ve inhaled it. Yet, it did nothing for me.
I mean it certainly was a captivating read! The circus setting with the cult plotline was VERY RAD and RIGHT UP MY SPECIAL INTERESTS ALLEY. I found all the character motivations to be crazy yet very sympathetic (families of circus performers have my HEART), and the writing style here was gorgeous. I was super geeked (
That shit was not lying; pretty crazy! to where, as the joker would say, was shrimply the normal.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It has moments that I really enjoyed, but over all felt like a slog. I really like the story but wish it was executed differently
2.75? I had a really hard time getting through this one