Carnival WolvesAlan Johnson is a man ill-at-ease among people and only slightly more comfortable with animals. His story begins in upstate New York with his rescue of an injured Dalmatian who "came down out of the sky and survived the fall, showed me how gradually I have fallen--how I never touch, never really talk to another person...I am hardly a person at all." The dog heals and is returned to its neglectful owner, but Alan Johnson steals it back and heads west in search of what it means to be human. As he crosses the United States, he moves through landscapes full of animals half-tamed and people run wild: a fanatical taxidermist, a lonely woman raising tigers on her remote ranch, a tragic circus chimp named Rufus, contemporary polygamists, and the caretakers of boot camps for troubled youths. They are Carnival Wolves, manifestations of our attempts to tame what is dangerous and wild, distorted reflections of parts of ourselves. After a tortuous journey through various states of depravity--and of America--Alan Johnson ends up in California having reached a reconciliation of instincts and having found a human being he can love. A gripping, hallucinatory read, Carnival Wolves is a provocation, a plea for identification that questions the humanity of its readers and confirms Peter Rock as a unique literary talent. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - dawsong - LibraryThingRock, Peter Carnival Wolves Fiction Peter Rock gives the reader a philosophical gift in this portrayal of how perception can alter reality and just being interested can reap fascinating results. Meet ... Read full review
Carnival wolves
User Review - Not Available - Book Verdict"Only connect," advised E.M. Forster, but in Rock's nightmare vision of contemporary America, there's little chance of heeding Forster's recommendation. This disappointing second book (after This Is ... Read full review
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Alan Alan Johnson Alicia animals arms birds boots breath Carlos cat door cats chimpanzee Chrissie circled Claudia climbed close cold dalmatian Dana dark Dian Fossey door driving eared grebe Eddie Polenka Eddie says Edvar eyes face feet felt fence fingers fish floor front Gills Rock girl gone Grace hair hand head heard held highway hold hung inside knew legs light listened Liza long underwear Martin Miriam says moving never Neville opened Pabst Blue Ribbon Patrick Paul PETER ROCK pulled raccoons Randy Rick Scott shoulder side sitting skin sleep slickrock smiling snowmobile someone standing stocking cap stood stop talking taxidermist taxidermy tell There's thing Thomas thought tigers told took touch tractor trailer trampoline trees tried truck trying turned Ursula voice waited walked walkie-talkie wall watched window woman wondered
Bibliographic information
| Title | Carnival Wolves |
| Author | Peter Rock |
| Publisher | Anchor Books, 1998 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | Mar 12, 2008 |
| ISBN | 038549209X, 9780385492096 |
| Length | 275 pages |
| Subjects | › Fiction / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |