Clowns: Don’t like ‘em. Never have, never will. Australian author Will Elliott is counting on such for all who open the pages of his debut novel, THE PILO FAMILY CIRCUS. Its protagonist — a dreary, young single man named Jamie with a dreary, go-nowhere job — nearly hits a clown while driving one night.
The next night, he sees the clown again, along with two others. A grotesque act occurs that should result in the death of one of them, but the clowns survive and disperse, leaving behind a velvet bag filled with a powdery substance. Jamie snags it and takes it home; he’ll soon wish he hadn’t.
While Jamie’s gone, his apartment is trashed — computer broken, pillow defecated upon, Manson-like messages left behind. It’s the clowns, of course, and they come back to make more mischief. Jamie tries to clobber them with a rolling pin, only to subdue no one but himself. When he comes to, he finds a note from them: He has two days to audition for their circus, and better come up with something that makes them laugh.
The note’s seriousness becomes more evident with attacks on his friend, so Jamie comes up with something that’ll (literally) save his nuts. He strips naked, sticks a bag over his head and marches through a shopping mall, screaming about a bomb. He gets arrested, but the trick works: The clowns usher him into the fractured family of The Pilo Family Circus. Out come the freaks!
Their trade is plied at a carnival far underground, complete with a severed head and a fishboy, a magician who explodes rabbits and a human wax candle named Tallow. It’s all run by a hulking man with yellow fingernails like claws, but the inmates are in charge of the asylum, with the clowns forever goading the acrobats and pulling devious pranks.
Jamie is warned by an elder clown not to wear the greasepaint at all times, or else he’ll forget who he is. That’s wise advice, because slowly but surely, Jamie’s makeup-streaked alter ego, JJ, is taking over. When he does his wicked deeds, Jamie doesn’t remember being in charge — because he’s not, and JJ wants to get him out of the picture for good.
You’re not likely to have ever read a novel quite like THE PILO FAMLY CIRCUS; Elliott’s work is a true original. That doesn’t mean it’s brilliant, although at times, it sure flirts with being so. These carnival denizens are quite inspired, seemingly living only to enact grotesque acts of comic violence and other crudeness. What will these clowns do next? After all, once you crucify a possum, where is there left to go? That question keeps you committed, chapter after chapter.
The Jamie-vs.-JJ struggle was the least interesting portion of the story — probably because Jamie isn’t all that likable from the start — yet that’s what consumes much of CIRCUS’ second half. Thus, for me, this back-and-forth went on a little too long, although the issue of the identity crisis is interesting (even more so when you consider the author has been diagnosed with schizophrenia).
THE PILO FAMILY CIRCUS first pinched its twisted tent in 2006 in Australia, and now travels to America via upstart publisher Underland Press. If this is a sign of things to come, Underland should prove a reliable label for anyone seeking the deliberately askew. —Rod Lott
