Sunday, August 7, 2011

Water for Elephants

Author: Sara Gruen
Year: 1996
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Website: http://saragruen.com

When he is 21 years old, Jacob Jankowski walks out of college in the middle of his veterinary final exams and joins the circus. It's not a pretty life. This story takes place during the Depression and the circus Jacob joins is not a top caliber circus. Animals go without food, workers without money and sometimes "disappear" during the night. 

I almost stopped reading this book before I got into the heart of the story because the first 75 pages was not at all what I expected and was much more explicit that I was prepared for. Once the Gruen got into the actual story, it was a beautiful story. The details of circus life were amazing - not necessarily pretty or something that made me want to run out and join the circus - but amazing. 

1 comments:

  1. Great review. I love your review style.

    PS Thanks for visiting my blog :)

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