{"product_id":"the-bankrupt-circus-other-misadventures-paperback","title":"The Bankrupt Circus \u0026 Other Misadventures - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJ. Bradley Minnick\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Pure genius.\" \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-\u003cem\u003eJo McDougall, former Arkansas Poet Laureate, author of In the Home of the Famous Dead and Towns Facing Railroads, on The Bankrupt Circus\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Like any genuinely higher being, Minnick loves even the least of his creations, dignifying them with an empathy and a beauty of purpose that leaves the reader both stunned and uplifted.\" \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-\u003cem\u003eJohn Vanderslice, author of Island Fog and Last Days of Oscar Wilde, on Working the Dirt\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Minnick offers a humble human moment and with a combination of comedy and supple linguistics, elevates it to a bird-eye view of the (or a) human condition.\" \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-\u003cem\u003eJohnny Payne, author of A Graveyard of First Chapters, and Hard Side of the River, on Generative\/Iterative\/Evaluative\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Minnick...sees truly but slyly, that is to say, the kind of writer who gazes into people's souls while pretending he's looking the other way.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-\u003cem\u003eKevin Brockmeier, author of A Brief History of the Dead and The Illumination, on A Pebble at Dawn\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"We are all down-and-out clowns,\" Muscles the Clown declares, \"painted smiles hiding real hearts.\"\u003c\/em\u003e From that moment, the stories in \u003cem\u003eThe Bankrupt Circus \u0026amp; Other Misadventures\u003c\/em\u003e open onto a world where absurdity and ache walk hand in hand. Whether it's kids buying unicycles from a bankrupt carnival, a graduate student who hides her dissertation in a freezer, a janitor who reads history in the dirt his broom leaves behind, or two friends hauling a firework the size of a rocket through Pittsburgh's smoky streets, these characters live at the margins-half comic, half tragic, wholly human.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarked by loss, loneliness, and a restless need to matter, each story reveals the fragile myths we create to survive. A broom becomes a confidant. A racquet carries the weight of brotherhood and rivalry. A firework becomes an elegy for a father. These objects, absurd on the surface, are never mere props; they are symbols of longing, stitched into the fabric of lives that might otherwise go unnoticed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike the circus itself, the collection is both spectacle and sideshow, dazzling with humor while exposing the melancholy beneath the greasepaint. Together, the stories form a portrait of America at its edges-where working-class rituals, childhood games, and neighborhood legends are transformed into metaphors for endurance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten in the tradition of surreal Americana, \u003cem\u003eThe Bankrupt Circus \u0026amp; Other Misadventures \u003c\/em\u003eis at once hilarious, unsettling, and unexpectedly tender. The voices here are unforgettable: flawed, raw, and deeply human. Beneath the satire and strangeness lies a yearning for connection and a stubborn hope that even in a world gone bankrupt, something meaningful can still be salvaged.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReaders will leave these pages not only entertained but moved to reflect on their own rituals of survival-the stories we tell to make sense of loss, the objects we cling to as proof of meaning, and the ways we balance heartbreak with humor. At once comic and compassionate, \u003cem\u003eThe Bankrupt Circus \u0026amp; Other Misadventures \u003c\/em\u003eoffers an unforgettable meditation on what it means to endure, to dream, and to keep searching for grace in the most unlikely places.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 186\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.51 x 8 x 5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e December 15, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47125811527819,"sku":"9798993393520","price":48.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0670\/2579\/7259\/files\/FiejZNdSdY9798993393520.webp?v=1780494631","url":"https:\/\/thetaletrade.com\/products\/the-bankrupt-circus-other-misadventures-paperback","provider":"The Tale Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}