Rating: 
Summary: Vivid Characters, Beautifully woven
Review: "The Circus in Winter" was a fantastic read. Each character is so wonderfully alive that it's hard to beleive this is fiction. By the time i got to the end, i needed author Day's note about her research and her real hometown (Peru, Indiana) to convince me that Wallace Porter, Jennie Dixianna, Charles "Chicky" Bowles "Last Member of the Boela Tribe" and his assorted ancestors were all the remarkable creations of her imagination. The characters and their stories are beautifully woven together and often reveal truths about life in surprising and unexpected ways.
- "May all your days be circus days!"
Rating:
Summary: Vivid Characters, Beautifully woven
Review: "The Circus in Winter" was a fantastic read. Each character is so wonderfully alive that it's hard to beleive this is fiction. By the time i got to the end, i needed author Day's note about her research and her real hometown (Peru, Indiana) to convince me that Wallace Porter, Jennie Dixianna, Charles "Chicky" Bowles "Last Member of the Boela Tribe" and his assorted ancestors were all the remarkable creations of her imagination. The characters and their stories are beautifully woven together and often reveal truths about life in surprising and unexpected ways.
- "May all your days be circus days!"
Rating: 
Summary: Like the circus: great variety, could use more depth.
Review: (spoilers) This is not a book I'd normally pick up -- but I hear the author read parts of her chapter called "Circus People" a few months ago, and I enjoyed them so much that I thought I'd read through. The good news is that "circus people" is as effective on the page as it is on the tongue. I loved the philosophy and radio metaphor weaved through this chapter. The bad part is that the author apparently read her strongest piece. And it's the last chapter of the novel. You expect your introduction to her work to mean it will only get better -- but like movie trailers, it was the pinnacle.
That's not to say the rest of the book is not worth reading though. It's enjoyable, and Day does a charming job of delivering individual character portraits in each one of her chapters, and assembling for us the mosaic that comprises the circus town of Lima, Indiana. My problem with the other chapters is that she's come up with these great characters, but she doesn't let us spend enough time with them. It's exhausting to be introduced to a new protagonist in each chapter, while keeping in mind what they contribute to the town as a whole -- an even more dissolute Rashomon effect.
Of course, if she fully developed each one of these characters, the book would be much longer. But as it stands, it seems a bit of a gimmick, a writing school exercise, and it implies a lack of confidence in her characters.
Day, like most authors, is clearly best with what she knows. The "circus people" piece is the only piece in the book written in the first person, and it's the strongest. The stories she told about the Hofstaeder clan, from the story of Ethan Perdido, to the penultimate chapter about Ollie Hostaeder's passing away, in particular, are memorable.
But I found the Jennie Dixianna character a bit of a wishful feminist fantasy (although the magical realism was a nice touch). And while the Earl Richards story was well-told, it was a bit hackneyed. She does have potential though -- outside the stories about the Hofstader clan, the Chicky Bowles was effective too... but considering the way it ends, I can't help but wonder if that was a bit personal as well.
Rating:
Summary: PATIENCE AND CARE PAY OFF...
Review: ...and it's easy to see that Cathy Day exercised both in the writing of this wonderful collection of related stories. In her notes, she reveals that she began writing these in 1991 -- I'm guessing that it was more or less complete a year or two before publication in 2004, so that works out as around 12 years of composition, preparation and loving polish. The glow of such a method is visible in each and every one of these tales.
Day infuses her characters with that magic we call 'life' -- even the ones (such as Jennie Dixianna) that are a bit 'over the top'. These are circus people, after all -- both in legend and in reality they are larger than life. One of Day's great accomplishments here is achieved through her careful crafting -- beneath the greasepaint and bravado, under the surface of the pain, abuse and depression, lie flesh-and-blood people with talents and faults and loves and heartbreaks and dreams...and nightmares.
Each story in this volume is infinitely believable and intimately touching -- and each one speaks to a different facet of the jewel that is our humantiy. It's a great read, and it makes me hope for more from this talented writer.
Rating:
Summary: Home Town Reader
Review: As a resident of Peru, Indiana, it was a pleasure to read Cathy Day's excellent short stories. I'm a transplant to this small midwestern town with its strange and interconnected history, and all the old stories I have heard about Peru became transformed into lively fiction with just enough truth to make me laugh out loud. My favorite story was "Winnesaw" which was about the 1913 flood, still remembered by many living here. I also loved her ending with circus people and town people juxtaposed. Cathy came to Peru during "Circus Days" to sign and sell her book and it is already sold out. I hope she is writing another set of stories right now!
Rating:
Summary: Best book that I have read in years!
Review: Cathy Day really topped it with The Circus in Winter. She is an outstanding writer. The stories seemed to come to life in my head. I guess they seem more real to me because I used to live in that small town. I would go to the circus and watch the parade every year. I would recommend this book to any and everyone!
Rating:
Summary: The Circus as Legacy
Review: Cathy Day's fine debut collection is comprised of varied stories linked through the people, both principals and descendents, of the Great Porter Circus, a show that calls Lima, Indiana home during the off-season. The author begins with "Wallace Porter," a story that tells of how the original tragedy that gave birth to the Great Porter Circus. From there, the stories branch out like a complicated family tree. Many of the characters are haunted by the death of an impressive elephant, Caesar, who was shot to death after killing his owner, as they try to make sense of their individual lives. One of the strongest stories, "The Last Member of the Boela Tribe," reads as a condensed novel by tracing four generations and their connection to the circus and Caesar. The final piece "Circus People", told in the first-person voice of a thirty-something college professor who returns for her grandfather's funeral, pulls all the others together with a sweeping look at the legacy of the defunct circus.The subtitle of this book, "Fiction", is an apt one since "Stories" doesn't convey the connectedness of these stories. Not a true novel, this book nonetheless ties together themes and events as well as characters. Reading these stories back-to-back is essential to feeling their full emotional power. The truly wonderful part of "The Circus in Winter" is the restraint Day exhibits in what could have been a sensationalist account of the sideshow freaks, clowns, managers, and trainers. Instead, her prose is transparent, without flourish or lyricism, and she steers clear of sentimentality. To add to the strong writing, black-and-white photographs of circus memorabilia and moments introduce each story, adding the feel of a documentary and a sense of nostalgia. In this first collection, Cathy Day proves herself an adept storyteller. I highly recommend it for readers of contemporary short fiction.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I've Read in Ten Years.
Review: I cried, I laughed...I've never really been so CAPTIVATED, so MOVED by a book! Cathy Day's narrative and descriptions are so good as to place her among....the VERY best writers, and I mean EVER. This is perhaps the finest debut by an American since WW II.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book!
Review: I loved this book. It's one of those rare books were you enjoy every page, and feel comfortable with, from the begining. I don't usually like collections of stories, because it seems you have to keep track of new characters too often, but Cathy Day, does a great job of her characterizations, so you never feel lost.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book!
Review: I loved this book. It's one of those rare books were you enjoy every page, and feel comfortable with, from the begining. I don't usually like collections of stories, because it seems you have to keep track of new characters too often, but Cathy Day, does a great job of her characterizations, so you never feel lost.
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