THE SMALL GODS AND MR. BARNUM

by Max Trell ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 25, 1971

By Jove and Juno and all the rest, ""What men or gods are these?"" They're the old heavenly familiars in whom men have lost faith, and they've diminished to ""16.202 inches, or 8/9 of a cubit, or 113 Babylonian barley seeds. . . or 2.75 quincunces."" (Mr. Trell is a great man with the inventoried incidental.) Anyway they come to America to appear under the aegis of that old huckster of hokum P. T. Barnum, for whom Juno holds an imperious disdain; they're put in the paddywagon and jailed, briefly, and emerge for some of the lesser events which conclude here with Barnum's sudden collapse and demise. Not -- you might say -- an Elysian Fields day but quite a few quincunces of humor, paradox and attractive innocence. . . a footnote to that other age of fable in the form of a topsyturvy whimsy.

Pub Date: July 25, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McCall

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1971

Categories: FICTION