Old Bakery Books.co.uk

In this Dickensian novel, richly populated with a cast of eccentric characters, the geneticist Dr. Farrokh Daruwalla returns to his native Bombay to collect blood from dwarfs and frequent the circus. He also writes screenplays for the thriving Indian "Bollywood" film industry. Meanwhile, the film hero Dhar has a fanatical admirer, a boy who passes as a woman, and an identical twin who shows up for the first time. Set in Bombay and Toronto, Irving's eighth novel is partly a murder mystery and partly an examination of the roots of prejudice.

'HIS MOST DARING AND MOST VIBRANT NOVEL...The story of circus-as-India is told with gusto and delightful irreverence.';
--Bharati Mukherjee The Washington Post Book World

"Ringmaster Irving introduces act after act, until three (or more) rings are awhirl at a lunatic pace....[He] spills characters from his imagination as agilely as improbable numbers of clowns pile out of a tiny car....His Bombay and his Indian characters are vibrant and convincing."
--The Wall Street Journal

"IRRESISTIBLE...POWERFUL...Irving's gift for dialogue shines."
--Chicago Tribune