Unreal World

Half way through a collection of short stories by Steven Millhauser entitled The Knife Thrower. So far the following may or may not have happened. A knife thrower impaled a willing volunteer from the audience as his final act, a man married and lives with a large frog for a wife, young girls have formed a secret society that meets nightly in the woods and rituals involve nudity and fondling, a man caught with a married woman is brought to his end by a duel with the cuckold husband, the fad of flying carpets entices neighborhood boys to seek the heavens, and a genius crafter of automatons captivates an excited town.

My two previous Millhauser novel reads have been rewarding: Edwin Mullhouse was the story of a legendary comic book author who died at age thirteen, and Martin Dressler - a Pulitzer winner - was the story of the rise and fall of a wondrous hotel developer.

Millhauser revels in sideshow entertainers and the art of conjuring. He is not limited to descriptions of technique; he is adept at creating characters of true emotion and harsh scenes of terror and delight. I should have bought more of his books at Half Price.