Customer Reviews

The Blue Moon Circus: A Novel

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It's the "Lonesome Dove"of circus novels - without the sweep and epic scope of similar tomes, this is a character driven story with all the dung and sweat and mildewed canvas that the turn of the century big top held.
This is a great and intimate read, a decent and noble story about art and challenge and caring and,above all, the magic of the circus. Buy it and read it.
A genuine treat.

In the hardscrabble world of the 20's, Lewis Tully opens circuses time after hardluck time because it's what he knows how to do. His small shows travel through Oklahoma, Wyoming and bordering states sometimes being blown away by the winds, sometimes flooding out but always being enjoyed not just by the audiences -- amazed to see this collection of fabulosity enter their dull lives -- but enjoyed by the performers as well. Not quite a family but certainly more than just a staff of performers; Harley the old magician (who has some wizardly scenes) as well as Sam Jeanette and Shelby Lewis are vividly drawn characters alive not only in their own designs but in the way they interact with Tully. But all characters from Helen the past flame to Lucy the bareback rider, none are bit players. In this novel's all-too brief 350-or-so pages author Michael Raleigh has generated more believable, alive, charismatic , well, people, then many another author in many of today's fat, unedited tomes.

Then a boy -- Charlie, a nine year-old orphan -- is sent to join up with the circus by Tully's sister. If you are thinking Toby Tyler you're not on the right track. Instead the way that Charlie's present life brings back Tully's past and allows Tully to reflect on and learn from his own life as it is lit by Charlie's candle makes for some of the most involving of scenes.

Oh, yes, there's a vilian named Hector Blaney who runs a circus that's as muddy as Tully's is clean. But even the setpiece's antagonist is painted with Raleigh's humanistic brush. Oh heck even Jupiter the pachyderm comes across as being more of a person than some of the central characters in today's best-sellers!

I hope that Raleigh gets the readership that this book deserves to bring him. If you are looking for a book that can take you out of yourself and make you feel the world might after all be a right enough place, pull up a chair and join The Blue Moon Circus. You'll come back for repeat performances.

At a time when book publishers are putting out way too many of the same things - international espionage, plucky heroines triumphing over romantic adversity, murder mysteries, deep dark intrigue, etc. - this book is a breath of fresh air.

It simply tells a good story that needs no plot twists, no obfuscation, no red herrings. Its strengths are its characters, its setting, and its straightforward story, all of which draw you in from the beginning.

I found myself looking forward during the day to getting back to the book in the evening, and I hated to see it end, and books that have that effect on me are few and far between! If Raleigh's got a sequel in the works, I'm ready for it.

I absolutely loved this book and hated to have it end. I have studied the circus and circus life and this book perfectly describes and brings to life what the small traveling circus in the 1920's was like. All the characters were so well developed and the story was total enjoyment. A must read for all!

A gritty tale of traveling circus life in the early 20th century centering on a hard-luck showman who gathers all of his ragtag performers for one more tour. A subplot about a young orphan boy who joins them is sad yet heartwarming, changing the lives of the boy and the circus master.

This is not a great book, it's, well...just a circus. Raliegh's handling of plot is a little clunky, but his heart's in the right place, and his voice rings true. A very sweet, enjoyable read.