Rating: 
Summary: Rare, remarkable quality
Review: I purchased the book just because the circus topic was unusual enough to provide some interest and it is winter. What I got upon reading it was some of the best writing I have encountered in quite some time. The individual stories are like a collection of jewels, linked by a common setting over a century or more of time. They deserve to be read slowly, repeatedly and savored. Any one of them would be an excellent resource for how to write a interesting short story. The author has lavished care on every paragraph, every incident and character. To the extent there is a common focus, it is on the tragedies and passions that have been buried and forgotten within our selves, our families and our communities, and the stoic lives we lead around and on top of the burial grounds. The circus setting predominates in the early stories, and the stories are full of its color, passion and excitement, and then fades into the backdrop in the later ones.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I typically read a book a week (more during vacations), and once every year or two a book is so fabulous that I'll sacrifice sleep to finish it. *The Circus in Winter* is that book for this year--I've read it straight through *twice* already. And this despite the fact that each story can stand on its own.Everything I want in fiction is inside these covers: people I can really care about, involved in romance, heartbreak, and lots of other human situations. Surprises and plot twists that are completely believable. History that's not only well-researched but brought to life, and linked to the present. Old photos. Humor. Mystery. Tragedy and comedy. But please don't expect *The Circus in Winter* to be about the circus. It's about people. Cathy Day is giving a reading near me this summer--I'm going to go get my copy autographed!
Rating:
Summary: Kudos to Cathy Day!
Review: The Circus in Winter is wonderful! I read three chapters then put the book aside to get on with my life only to find myself going back to read more. Yes, it's engrossing. Cathy Day's people are altogether real and compelling. She makes us care about them -- the circumstances of their everyday lives, their burdens, quirks, desires, schemes, disappointments -- the selective particulars that make them both strange and human. They in turn make us smile and go teary.Cathy Day's prose is deceptively spare because it is finely evocative and graced with moments of poetic insight.
Rating:
Summary: Kudos to Cathy Day!
Review: The Circus in Winter is wonderful! I read three chapters then put the book aside to get on with my life only to find myself going back to read more. Yes, it's engrossing. Cathy Day's people are altogether real and compelling. She makes us care about them -- the circumstances of their everyday lives, their burdens, quirks, desires, schemes, disappointments -- the selective particulars that make them both strange and human. They in turn make us smile and go teary.Cathy Day's prose is deceptively spare because it is finely evocative and graced with moments of poetic insight.
Rating:
Summary: Superbly crafted story collection
Review: Welcome to Lima, Indiana: Circus Town U.S.A. Within the pages of Cathy Day's collection of short fiction, centering on the winter home of the fictional Great Porter Circus, you will meet performers, freaks, trainers, managers, roustabouts, gypsies, and townies. Although each of these stories can stand alone, and in fact some of them have been published previously in literary journals, they are best when read together to form an interwoven tapestry that depicts the residents of Lima and how the circus has touched their lives in some way.
Covering the period from the Civil War to the present time, these fascinating tales run the gamut of situations and dilemmas. An animal trainer is killed by one of his mistreated elephants. The daughter of a former clown cannot resist the call of the road even though she is married to a townie. Several generations of descendants of black sideshow performer Boela Man grow away from their circus past but can never leave it completely behind. A flood inundates Lima and claims the lives of a star performer and several circus animals. A tragic accident is prompted by memories of a glamorous circus cowboy. A band of gypsies takes the local campground by storm. Every story is a gem, but in my opinion the most heartfelt is the final story "Circus People," which ties the rest together with a powerful musing on town people, circus people, and the nature of hometowns.
This book contains superbly crafted portraits, touched with humor and tenderness, of a wide array of characters. The tales are set against a backdrop imbued with fascinating lore about the circus. Each story is prefaced with a black-and-white photograph that evokes the mood of the tale that follows. The author, who comes from a circus family herself and who grew up in a circus town, has meticulously researched the history and workings of the American circus and seamlessly merged fact and fiction. Although you will find almost no action taking place under the big top, you will get a realistic behind-the-scenes glimpse into the daily lives of its performers and workers. I strongly recommend this book, and hope that you find it as magical and compelling as I have. May all your days be circus days.
Eileen Rieback
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