Geek Love (Abacus Books)

This is an enticing literary journey where few will ever tread. The characters are vibrant, defame and spec will keep you awake at night then Hungry for the next chapter. Although I read it as an assignment I highly recommend it to all.

If you are a fan of American Horror Story Freakshow, you'll definitely enjoy this book. There are many, many similarities and I would be interested in looking into how much of this book may have inspired that season. It's a very interesting take on how "freaks" are viewed, how they might perceive themselves, love, selfishness, fetishism, etc. It really runs the gamut and conjures up many different emotions. If you are easily offended this is not the book for you, but with an open mind and a curious nature this book will enlighten and surprise you.

Amazing how the Binewski family viewed themselves as opposed to the "norms". I would recommend this book especially to anyone who has seen American Horror Story (the season about the circus freaks). Good read!

Unflinching in its brutality at times, but an excellent read. I absolutely loved the relationships between the characters. Really can't say much about it without giving up the plot, but if you can get through the first few uncomfortable chapters, the book really is an excellent tale.

I am still wrestling with my feelings about this book. I loved the first half. Obviously the premise is disturbing and twisted but Dunn somehow managed to make it feel realistic and natural in context. She is an exceptional writer when she wants to be. The description of the Fabulon and the Binewski silbings' childhood is the highlight because it was wonderfully imaginative and it had heart.

I cannot pinpoint exactly where in the story my feelings about the book changed although it was somewhere after the halfway mark. I know when I realized it though. My boyfriend asked me a question while I was reading and I nearly bit his head off. I apologized and said, "This book is just such so toxic it is putting me in an awful mood."

Bascially the book lost its heart. The author kept piling on one cruel and disgusting event on top of another. It did not feel natural, it did not feel like it had a greater purpose it just felt very pushed. I couldn't shake the feeling that the author was more interested in demonstrating her daring and how far she was willing to go rather than writing a good story. Pushing the envelope can be great if it is done in a thought-provoking and carefully crafted manner. However, it is a fine line and if you go too far too often the shock value is gone, the goodwill is gone and you are just left with a huge pile of garbage. I think the book reached this point and it made me angry because after the first half of the book I had high expectations. Pain is a major theme through the book but any higher point Dunn was trying to make about the nature of pain the second half (if there was one) got lost in the muck.

Towards the end my bad feelings began to soften a bit. I don't know if it is because the author managed to bring back some of what made the first half of the book great or because the second half of the book desensitized me so much that I didn't care what happened to any of the characters any more.

I suppose I would recommend this book to people with strong stomachs only because very few books have caused such a strong reaction and internal struggle in me and that has got to be worth something. Plus I have never read anything like it before and there is definitely value in originality.

This is an amazing book and I think everyone should read it. The author has an incredibly amazing imagination and she will keep you turning pages. The evolution of the characters and the conditions they live in is outstanding. Truly a remarkable piece of art that you MUST READ.

Well, this is certainly a read that will stay with you long after you've finished the book. But I have mixed feelings as to whether that's a good or bad thing. This isn't a run of the mill coming of age story, that's for sure. It's well written and you'll never forget that you read it.

Katherine Dunn has an imagination that is irreverent, deviant, and sometimes shocking. Her novel is a disturbing story that will linger in your memory. The most interesting aspect of the book is it's ability to find core human emotions such as love and loyalty in the midst of a carnival featuring the macabre and deformed.

A favorite novel of mine. Unique, quirky, imaginative, creative, well crafted, peopled with great characters—not for every taste, but if you're looking for something off the beaten path, this is it!

I had been recommended this book by my literature teacher when she saw i liked different books that pushes boundaries. I loved this book and the way it was written, and got it as presents to a couple of friends even. You need an open mind to read and appreciate this novel. I thought it was an amazing read