I have always been fascinated by the place of P.T. Barnum in American folk history. In her novel, "Among the Wonderful," Stacy Carlson has done a marvelous job of bringing back to life the wonders of Barnum's American Museum. the story is told through the dual narrative voices of Ana Swift, the world's only living giantess, and Emile Guillaudeu, the museum's taxidermist.
One review noted that Carlson, in her lovingly told tale, makes the "off ordinary and the ordinary odd." I agree. This is storytelling at its highest level. I found myself caring about the fate of even the most obscure member of Barnum's phantasmagorical menagerie off oddities and wonders.
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