The Circus of Dr. Lao
A circus of mythological creatures visits a small Arizona town.
The Circus of Dr. Lao, a 1935 novel by American journalist Charles G. Finney, won the first National Book Award for Most Original Book. Boris Artzybasheff illustrated the initial edition, though later printings often lack his artwork.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Charles G. Finney
- Illustrator
- Boris Artzybasheff
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Genre
- Fantasy, Weird West
- Published
- 1935 Viking Press
- Format
- Print (hardcover)
- Pages
- 154 pp.
Facts from the source article.
Plot summary
The novel takes place in the fictional town of Abalone, Arizona. A circus owned by a Chinese man named Dr. Lao arrives, carrying legendary creatures from various mythologies, including a sea serpent, Apollonius of Tyana (who tells dark but truthful fortunes), a medusa, and a satyr. Through their encounters with the circus, the townspeople undergo enigmatic peak experiences suited to each individual's personality. The story concludes with the town becoming the site of a ritual for a pagan god whimsically called Yottle, possibly alluding to the Mesoamerican god Yaotl. The god himself slays a virgin, her unrequited lover, and his own priest. After the circus ends, the townsfolk scatter, with few apparently profiting from their surreal experiences. The book includes an appendix that serves as a catalogue of all people, places, items, and mythological beings mentioned, summarizing characters pithily and sardonically, revealing the fates of the townsfolk, and listing plot holes and unanswered questions. Among the exhibited creatures are a 2,300-year-old satyr born of a goatherd and a goat; a young Sonoran medusa from northern Mexico with various snakes in her hair; a roc chick that hatches from an egg sweating salt water; a hound of the hedges with grass fur and rose-thorn teeth; a mermaid captured in the Gulf of Pei-Chihli; and a hermaphroditic African sphinx.
Film adaptation
The novel was adapted by Charles Beaumont into the script for the 1964 film The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, which features extensive stop-motion animation produced by George Pal. The movie follows Finney's book only vaguely, abridging and changing many of the circus's exhibited creatures and persons, and adding a subplot about the town miser, played by Arthur O'Connell, who plots to dupe townspeople into selling him their land because he knows a railroad will soon arrive. Actor Tony Randall portrays each of the seven faces: Dr. Lao, who alternates between stereotypical Chinese broken English and a solemn deep voice with several accents; Medusa; Pan; the Abominable Snowman; Apollonius of Tyana, the fortune teller cursed to tell unhappy truths; the magician Merlin, so old and fumbling that the audience does not realize he performs actual miracles; and the faces of a stop-motion serpent that changes appearance depending on the viewer. Randall also appears as a circus patron in a crowd scene.
More in American Fantasy Novels Adapted Into Films
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced