The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith

From a writer whom Thomas Keneally calls "one of the great figures on the cusp of the millennium" comes a novel that conjures an entire world that suggests our own, but tilted on its axis--a world whose most powerful country, Voorstand, dominates its neighbors with ruthless espionage and its mesmerizing but soul-destroying Sirkus.

Into that world comes Tristan Smith, a malformed, heroically willful, and unforgivingly observant child. Tristan's life includes adventure and loss, political intrigue, and a bizarre stardom in the Voorstand Sirkus, where animals talk and human performers die real deaths. The result is a visionary picaresque, staggering in its inventions, spellbinding in its suspense, and unabashedly moving.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 01/30/1996
ISBN: 9780679760368
Pages: 432
Weight: 0.77lbs
Size: 8.08h x 5.30w x 0.94d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 01/01/1996 pg. 69
New York Times 02/04/1996 pg. 24