Geek Love: A Novel

National Book Award Finalist - Here is the unforgettable story of the Binewskis, a circus-geek family whose matriarch and patriarch have bred their own exhibit of human oddities--with the help of amphetamines, arsenic, and radioisotopes.

One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years

Their offspring include Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family's most precious--and dangerous--asset.

As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.

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368 pages

Average rating: 6.23

47 RATINGS

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4 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

Bermejo
Aug 17, 2023
título: AMOR DE MONSTRUO Muchos ven en Olympia Binewski un monstruo: es enana, albina, jorobada. Sin embargo, nada hay menos monstruoso que amar. Y Olympia ama a Al y Lil, porque diseñaron cada una de sus malformaciones. Ama a Chick, su hermano pequeño, por su bondad infinita y su ingenuidad sin mácula. Ama a Elly y a Iphy, las siamesas, las más bellas y virtuosas pianistas. Ama a Arturo, el chico que nació con aletas allí donde debiera tener extremidades, más que a nadie en este mundo. Ama a Miranda, pese a que ésta no sabe que salió de su vientre. Tanto la ama que la seguirá allá donde vaya para que nada le falte. Ama a la señora Lick aunque sabe que no debe, aunque invierte su fortuna en corregir a los que son como ella. Los ama tanto que haría lo que fuese por protegerlos. Y a aquellos que la llaman monstruo, que la saltan con la mirada o le disparan atrincherados en aparcamientos, a esos también podría aprender a amarlos. Un libro lleno de amor aunque terrorífico, que sacudió el panorama literarios y se erigió novela de culto. La favorita de Kurt Cobain, Tim Burton y Douglas Coupland.
E Clou
May 10, 2023
8/10 stars
I've never read anything quite like this. Part circus book, part cult book, but reminds me a little of The World According to Garp (which was oddly one of my teen years favorites). The characters are very original as well, and unlikable or not- I loved some of them. The language is good. It made me deeply uncomfortable to read it. Clearly a cult classic for a reason.
_orbitingemily
Jan 29, 2023
2/10 stars
DNF - did not care about characters and there was no plot
SindySin666
Nov 10, 2022
7/10 stars
I was a bit disappointed. The imagery was vibrant and well written , but I felt like it was being edgy just to be edgy .

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