IN THIS DARKLY COMIC NOVEL, Clown Girl lives in Baloneytown, a neighborhood so run down and penniless that drugs, balloon animals and even rubber chickens contribute to the local currency. Against a backdrop of petty crime, Clown Girl struggles to find her place in the world of high art; she has dreams of greatness and calls on the masters, Charlie Chaplin, Kafka and da Vinci for inspiration. But all is not art in her life: in an effort to support herself and her under-employed performance-artist boyfriend, she is drawn into the world of paying jobs, and finds herself unwittingly turned into a "corporate clown," trapped in a cycle of meaningless, high paid gigs which veer dangerously close, then closer to prostitution. Using the lens of clown life to illuminate a struggle between artistic integrity and an economic reality, Monica Drake has created a novel that embraces the high comedy of early film stars -- most notably Chaplin and W.C. Fields. At the same time Drake manages to raise questions about issues of class, gender, economics and prejudice.
--This text refers to an alternate
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Although a slim tome this was an enjoyable book about a vulnerable woman who's job is as a clown and the pitfalls of clown phobia and clown fetish.
I think the author manages to get you to sympathise with the main protagonist and her unlucky (sometimes) circumstances.
I bought it because the foreword is by my favourite author Chuck Palahniuk. It is not written in his style but he recommended it and that's good enough for me.
I think the author manages to get you to sympathise with the main protagonist and her unlucky (sometimes) circumstances.
I bought it because the foreword is by my favourite author Chuck Palahniuk. It is not written in his style but he recommended it and that's good enough for me.
By C. Langridge
Format:Paperback
I loved this book! It's kind of a slow-burner, and not a whole lot happens, but there is great humour in the little things that happen to Clown Girl. Set in a really interesting world where being a Clown is its own profession with a union and Clown Code, Nita tries to navigate her way between being a corporate clown and an artist whilst trying to support her boyfriend who is away at Clown College. A novel about loss, and finding yourself.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Amy V. Lloyd
Format:Paperback
I love Chuck Palahniuk, his old stuff at least, and knowing his connection to Monica Drake and the book having his thumbs up, I thought there'd be some good old fashioned quirky fun in this book.
It wasn't fun.
Nothing about this book was special, none of the characters were likeable and the story was a real struggle to get through. I just found it annoying.
Some people have that natural quirky mind, like Palahniuk, and some people don't, like Drake. It all felt so forced and nothing flowed.
If you like Palahniuk and want to explore authors from there, if you think this sounds great, then really, try Geek Love by Katherine Dunne instead. You really won't regret it. This book falls very short of most expectations. It is marketed on the basis that Palahniuk puts his name to it, without that I'm not sure it would have reached publication, seriously. Try Geek Love.
It wasn't fun.
Nothing about this book was special, none of the characters were likeable and the story was a real struggle to get through. I just found it annoying.
Some people have that natural quirky mind, like Palahniuk, and some people don't, like Drake. It all felt so forced and nothing flowed.
If you like Palahniuk and want to explore authors from there, if you think this sounds great, then really, try Geek Love by Katherine Dunne instead. You really won't regret it. This book falls very short of most expectations. It is marketed on the basis that Palahniuk puts his name to it, without that I'm not sure it would have reached publication, seriously. Try Geek Love.
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