Book Review: The Sword Swallower

                                                                                   BOOK INFORMATION:                                                                  

Duke Reynolds ran away from a volatile and broken home to join the traveling circus. 

He spends his life entertaining people on every city street corner, circus tent, and coliseum until one day something does not go as planned. Duke, facing his own immortality, decides to leave the bright lights.

Gary Robinson, the Chico Kid, is a lost and troubled soul devoid of any purpose. As each act of desperation to survive is met with failure, his life spirals out of control, until one day he meets an old tattooed man entertaining a crowd by hammering a six-inch nail into his skull.

Duke hears about Gary’s transgressions. He wants to save Gary from the same self-destruction he experienced, but Duke is terminally ill and Gary’s acts of desperation will soon destroy him.

                                                                        MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK                                                              

The Sword Swallower and a Chico Kid by Gary Robinson is the story about a unique journey in life. The story centers around a character named Duke and the circus life. It is the story of how Duke came to be a sword swallower, which I found to be quite interesting. The story also includes two of his very close friends. 

This story is written in three different parts: The Sword Swallower’s Journey, The Destructive Path of Chico Kid and An Eccentric Friendship and Unconventional Mentoring. I loved all three of them. The book opens with the delivery of a package. Which then brings about a flood of flashback memories. The character Duke travels from city to city performing and returns to the place where his journey begins. Then he retells how the circus people became his family. How this family helped him overcome so many hard times in his life. I found these side characters to be well written and rather interesting. I found some of it hard to read because it was pretty hard to read about to me. 

I found it interesting that while the book is a work of fiction the author notes that there are some sections loosely based on his real-life friends. I think that is pretty cool that some of this is based on reality. Because it was a rather wild ride. 

I enjoyed the realism in this book as far as writing and language are concerned. I haven't lived a similar life to any of these characters but I can relate to dealing with people that have drug and alcohol addictions. I found that it was an interesting spin on it.