December 30, 2021
Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham
Stan Carlisle is a young carnival worker, on his way up in the world. He hooks up with Zeena, another carnival worker who has a mind reading act, and learns how to fool an audience. He leaves the carnival with Molly, a girl who has an act with the circus freak show, and together they develop a mind-reading stage act that does reasonably well. When he realizes how much money people will pay to contact their loved ones in the next world, Stan morphs into the Reverend Stanton Carlisle, spiritualist and medium. His church contacts lead him to an unscrupulous psychologist named Lilith, who helps him gain access to wealthy and powerful men. But he takes his act one step too far and his life begins to spiral out of control, until it comes full circle and he returns to the carnival life where the story began.
Dark, disturbing, atmospheric, bleak, with great characters. The 2021 movie adaptation is well done.
Carnival sideshow
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