Summary

Book I is called “A Young Man’s Fancy.” The novel is set in the United States a few years after the end of the Second World War. It begins with the protagonist, an African American man from Kentucky named Buddy Ray Guy, often known as just Bud, recalling the first time he ever saw a carnival performer known as The Unicorn Woman. Bud noticed that male “freaks” (2) at carnivals attracted all kinds of audiences but the audience for the female freaks attracted more men than women. Bud was surprised to discover that the Unicorn Woman was Black because he was used to only seeing white freaks. He was immediately struck by her beauty and by the fact that, although she was looking out towards the audience, she did not seem to notice anyone individually. The audience circled her and she sat still. When...