THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern (is my Boyfriend!)

WHAT IS THE NIGHT CIRCUS ABOUT- It’s very strange that I am hearing all this crazy buzz and nuts hype about THE NIGHT CIRCUS because I could have sworn I found an ancient copy of this book hidden in a dusty old book shop filled with cobwebs and ghosts.

It was either that or I found this book in a cave along with a pile of pirate’s treasure and a talking dragon.

Or it’s possible I didn’t even technically procure the book at all, it just started inexplicably materializing on my nightstand, in my bookshelf, on my coffee table, into my outstretched hands while I was taking a bath.

It’s not possible that I just snagged a copy at Book Expo America last spring. It’s not possible that people are buying this book on Amazon or in Barnes and Noble or even in your favorite independent bookstore where almost anything can happen.

Because the NIGHT CIRCUS is way too (fill in your favorite expletive) MAGICAL a book to be obtained through normal methods.

Do we need a synopsis now?

Synopsis Gadget, go!

Le Cirque des Rêves (Circus of Dreams, for those of you are classless whores and don’t know a speck of French) is a ginormous black and white striped tent circus that travels all over the world, appearing mysteriously in fields and fairgrounds, open only at night, filled with sights so glorious you could swear that they were magic.

SPOILER ALERT. This is because they are magic.

Two young magicians Celia and Marco (not like birthday party magicians, like, the-only-reason-they’re-not-at -Hogwarts-is-because-their-letters-got-lost-in-the-mail-magicians) have been groomed since birth to duel each other to the bloody end, the circus serving as their otherworldly battlefield. And of course, because they are both young, attractive and magical, they FALL IN LOVE in a manner MOST MAGICAL.

This book is the treat to end all treats. Like if you are having cupcakes and s’mores and root beer floats right now, shove it off the table, the NIGHT CIRCUS is going to be your dessert for the next, like, week and a half at least.

The book works like gangbusters on all levels books can work like gangbusters- the prose is painterly-gorgeous, the characters are magnetic, the plot is twisty-turny-great.

But here’s what I like best about THE NIGHT CIRCUS.

Le Cirque des Rêves can show up anywhere in the world.

Which as you’re reading, makes you think, that maybe,maybe,maybe, maybe the circus could show up in our world.

Yes, I KNOW Erin Morgenstern wrote this book as a novel.

Yes, I KNOW that “novel” means “fiction” and “fiction” means “not real” and “not real” means, “a made-up circus is not about to appear in the abandoned lot behind your house.”

I know all this, I do, and still, like all of the best magical stories, I kind-of-a-little-bit-believe it could happen. The way I kind-of-a-little-bit-believe that my letter from Hogwarts is going to be owl-delivered down my chimney any day now. The way I kind-of-a-little-bit-believe that Doctor Who could show up in his blue police box TARDIS one of these nights and whisk me off to see the universe for like,  a good two and a half BBC seasons. The way I kind-of-a-little-bit-believe I will be chosen as the next Vampire Slayer and all of a sudden I will be so good at kickboxing and have to decide whether I want David Boreanz or James Marsters to be my vampire boyfriend. The way I kind-of-a-little-bit-believe that if I just go far enough back in my messy and disorganized closet, I’ll wind up in snowy, wintertime Narnia. These are my favorite stories, the tales of magic that bleed into reality, that make you think, maybe, maybe, just maybe, the story will bleed into your reality too.

I should name my theory, yeah? How about “Books are my Boyfriends Most Special  Theory About Magical Stories Being the Greatest When The Magic Feels Like it Could Actually Happen in Your Real Life.”

That’ll go nicely on the shelf with  The Great And Powerful Books are my Boyfriends Theory About Literature as Gossip and Gossip as Literature

All right, enough of me being Roland Barthes, let’s see what kind of boyfriend NIGHT CIRCUS is!

WHAT KIND OF BOYFRIEND HE IS- He wears suspenders and his coats have tails and he know what fork to use for salads and what fork to use for other foods. He enchants the kleenex you are wiping your nose with to also wipe away your allergies. He enchants the jeans that don’t quite fit you anymore to button and zip like a charm. He enchants your car to fly above rush hour traffic! What a guy! But he also is kind of in love with another magician. What an asshole! But the he enchants your refrigerator to be filled with Whole Foods groceries you didn’t have to go out and spend $300 on. All is kind of, sort of forgiven.

MY DATE WITH THE NIGHT CIRCUS-

We wait for Le Cirque des Rêves  to appear in my backyard.

And wait…

And wait…

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