Lives of the Circus Animals: A Novel [Paperback]

Christopher Bram (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: William Morrow (2003)
• ASIN: B000OF0UYW
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tales of the City for Theatre Buffs, April 8, 2004

By 

Brett Benner (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lives of the Circus Animals: A Novel (Hardcover)

The best way I know how to describe this frothy, light comedy is to say it's "Tales of the City" set in the New York theatre scene. The book runs just a little over the course of a week, with the various characters interconnected, and each chapter moving from one to the next. There's Henry, the older English thespian who's in a smash Broadway play, his love denied assistant Jessie, and her playwright brother Caleb, as well as Caleb's shallow lover Toby. For anyone who has spent time in the Manhattan theatre world or follows it closely, you may find this a fun, campy, nearly melodramatic read. It didn't seem like the same author who had written the fantastic "Dr August" and "Father of Frankenstein" since it has none of the depth of either of those books. However taken separately, it's a breezy read that brims with heart as a valentine to the the New York theatre and it's inhabitants.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good, February 19, 2004

By 

Joshua L. Vandyne (Fort Wayne, IN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lives of the Circus Animals: A Novel (Hardcover)

This was a great book. It was definitely a page turner and had a great fast paced story line. It is about a group of Manhattanites during the course of a few days and their lives in and around plays whether on or off Broadway. I liked the book but at the end I felt like I really didn't get to know the character too well. Christopher Bram wrote another wonderful story but I felt that the story was really lacking character development. Besides Caleb and Jessie Doyle you really have no idea of what the characters went through in the past. Like with the youngest character, Toby, the only thing I really know about him is that he is from Wisconsin...that's it. What kind of life did he have in Wisconsin that would make him move to NYC and start to strip? I liked the book a great deal I just thought that it would have been a better book if the author would have fleshed out the characters a little more.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another treat from Christopher Bram, October 14, 2003

By 

I. Sondel "I. Sondel - lover of the arts" (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lives of the Circus Animals: A Novel (Hardcover)

Master storyteller Christopher Bram, auhtor of "Father of Frankenstein" (which was filmed as "Gods and Monsters"), has delivered a wonderful valentine to Broadway with his latest novel "Lives of the Circus Animals."

With wit and keen observations, Bram populates his story with a rich assortment of New York theatre types - a playwright, a famous actor ("the Hamlet of his generation"), a critic, a producer, a number of agents and a myriad of near-do-wells and seekers of fame.

What starts as a series of disconnected scenes establishing each character, quickly develops into a densely integrated plot which coalesces into a rousing, swiftly paced comedy of manners.

Perhaps Bram's greatest strength as an author is his ability to draw and sustain characters who are three dimensional, who exhibit characteristics both exasperating and endearing, who's misadventures we follow eagerly. "Lives of the Circus Animals" is a feast for lovers of drama and literature.