"Water for Elephants" is a novel based partially in the present, where the narrator is an elderly man living in a nursing home. He is thinking back on his younger days, mid-20's in age, early 1930's in time, where he left veterinary school and joined up with the circus during the depression. Being a circus, the characters are interesting, and of course there are circus animals and freaks.
I found it interesting how the whole circus circuit worked - trains from town to town, setup and takedown in hours; how the animals were fed en route; the stratification of the circus folks (performers, managers, workers); the disposability of workers during the depression (e.g. being "red-lighted" - tossed off the train during the night).
The afterword talks of some historical resources from which some of the stories were derived - not a history lesson, but a story based in the reality of the times. A very compelling read.
Watched the movie. A nice movie, not as deep as the book (as usual) but a nice capture of the essense.
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