Charles G. Finney wrote a book, published in 1935, that was considered the most original novel of the year.
It certainly tickled the imagination and continued winning praise for years. Finney's name appeared in lists with Ernest Hemingway, no small feat.
From the Arizona Daily Star, July 5, 1953:
Saturday Review Lauds 'Circus'
Finney Book Named One of Best in U.S.
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"The Circus of Dr. Lao," by Charles G. Finney, Tucson author and newspaper man, has been given the accolade of "one of the 12 best books of recent years" in a poll of contributors to the Saturday Review.
Finney's book, which was named on the list along with works by Theodore Dreiser and Ernest Hemingway, was first published in 1935 and won the National Booksellers' award as most original novel of the year.
The story, a fantasy about a strange circus that visits a fictional town, Abalone, Ariz., is being republished this year by Bantam Books.
Review by Krutch
The July 4 issue of the Saturday Review carried a review of the book by Joseph Wood Krutch, distinguished critic and former professor of English at Columbia university, who now lives in Tucson.
In his review, Krutch states that "The Circus of Dr. Lao" attracted enough attention when first published to be called a success of esteem. "The all-too-few who read the book when it first came out in 1935 remembered it," he writes.
"Perhaps the reason why it never got a wide public is that wide publics generally prefer a book which falls into a category and can be recommended to friends by saying that it's a good deal like so-and-so. But "the Circus of Dr. Lao" is not a good deal like anything else, and is, in fact, about as nearly unclassifiable as anything could well be," Krutch believes.
Star Employe
Finney, who is telegraph editor of the Arizona Daily Star, wrote his story, the reviewer says, "as a comment on the fact that most people have no imagination, and therefore they have no idea what kind of world they live in or what the past of their species has been."
Dr. Lao's circus replaces the usual menagerie with such creatures of mythology as a unicorn, a roc, a werewolf and a medusa.
How the circus is received by the inhabitants of the fictional Arizona town, when they have a look at the peep show consisting of the choicest erotic fantasies of ancient civilizations, forms the basis of the book.
None of the Abilonians takes the circus seriously. The dull see nothing, and the "Wise guys" call it a fake.
A dramatization of Finney's book, adapted for the stage by Gwyn Conger and Nathaniel Benchley, had a trial run in Florida last season and is being reworked for presentation on Broadway.
The adaptation, a play with music, was created for the American National Theatre and Academy series. Other books Finney has written include "Past the End of the Pavement" and "The Unholy City."
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Charles G. Finney is one of Tucson's notable achievers.
