Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Algonquin Books (2007), 350 pages
Description
A novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932. When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.--From publisher description.
Media reviews
It's a favorite of book clubs and reading groups, and is supposedly rife with parallels between the protagonist, Jacob Jankowski and Jacob, grandson of Abraham, in the Bible. I wish one of you would tell me what they are. They are not obvious to me, other than a cryptic "Jacob's ladder" parallel
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to the ladder on the train cars that give access to the roof and that will be important late in the story. What is obvious to me is this is a book about memory, something elephants are famous for and something humans are famous for treating as reliable when it isn't. Show Less
At its finest, "Water for Elephants" resembles stealth hits like "The Giant's House," by Elizabeth McCracken, or "The Lovely Bones," by Alice Sebold, books that combine outrageously whimsical premises with crowd-pleasing romanticism. But Gruen's prose is merely serviceable, and she hurtles through
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cataclysmic events, overstuffing her whiplash narrative with drama (there's an animal stampede, two murders and countless fights). Show Less
What goes on under the big top is nothing compared with the show backstage.
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2007)
Alex Award (2007)
Indies Choice Book Award (Winner — Adult Fiction — 2007)
Great Lakes Book Award (Winner — Fiction — 2007)
The White Ravens (2007)
Friends of American Writers Award (First Place — Adult Literature — 2007)
Paterson Fiction Prize (Finalist — 2007)
Reading Across Rhode Island (2008)