Geek Love

I really struggled with what to give this book. From the first, I was hooked.

“When your mama was the geek, my dreamlets,” Papa would say, “she made the nipping off of noggins such a crystal mystery that the hens themselves yearned toward her...”

I devoured it. The words were electric, dysfunctional, odd, and out of place, much like the characters. Crystal Lil and Al Binewski, in all their twisted striving, make a carnival out of their family. An albino humpback dwarf, Oly, and the narrator, conjoined twins, Iphy and Elly, a boy born with flippers for arms and legs, Arty, and a telekinetic called Chick. Together they are the story. The crazed, wild, tender, and heartbreaking story.

Despite its wackiness–or maybe because of it–I was hooked. You can't look away. My main problem with came about 3/4 of the way through where it felt like the light had gone out and the electricity had died. Perhaps this was meant to reflect the simultaneous decay of the Binewskis but, nevertheless, it made me want to quit several times. Still, the overall story itself is so dark and colorful and alive that, ultimately, that's what I won't soon forget.

“They thought to use and shame me but I win out by nature, because a true freak cannot be made. A true freak must be born.”