It’s grim up north

Geek Love - a novel by Katherine Dunn (ISBN: 0-375-71334-4)

The story of Geek love revolves around the narrator, Olympia Binewski - a bald headed, humpback albino midget in her forties. As we get to know her and learn about what she’s trying to accomplish we’re fed with flashbacks from when she grew up as the second-youngest child in a traveling carny family. The anomalies of Olympia and her siblings (Arturo - the Aqua boy, Iphigenia and Electra - the siamese twins and the young Chick with his special gifts) were the results of their parents ingenious way to create new attractions and shows for the carnival using chemicals and radioisotopes.

In many ways this is a book about the blessing and comforting feeling of being unique in a hostile world where the family ties is the only thing to hold on to.
Author Katherine Dunn (among others) is often mentioned by Chuck Palahniuk fans when giving recomendations on how to survive when you’ve read all his books and still need more. Chuck and Katherine both live in Portland, Oregon and her work - not the language as much as the passion for a fascinating and totaly bizzare yet graspable story - seems to have inspired him a lot in his strive towards great authorship.

If books were food this book would taste almost like something Chuck Palahniuk had cooked. Perhaps a little less salty but still one of the best meals you’ve had in a very long time.