A young alcoholic drifting job to job and an old alcoholic that shoved things in his orifices for a living somehow find each other in Gary Robinson's The Sword Swallower and the Chico Kid. Gary, a young man that can't seem to find himself, finds something meaningful when he forges a friendship with Duke Reynolds, an aging sideshow worker, and changes his life for the better.
The book starts with Duke in San Francisco, swallowing swords on the streets. He left home at fifteen to join the circus, and circus life is all he knows. He found an extraordinary family with the misfits of the circus, the smallest family and the tallest man, among more. With only fourteen sword swallowers in the country, Duke became a sideshow star. The life of a sideshow star, however, included twenty hour work days and always on the move, leading to alcohol and drug abuse. On the surface, Duke seemed like just an entertaining train wreck, but he had his own personal motives and morals that most people couldn't aspire to. The only thing missing was to come full circle and pass on what little he thought he had to offer. Enter, Gary Robinson.…show more content… It's immediately apparent that Gary doesn't care for niceties but only truth, focusing on "the philosophies of life." His speech takes a nihilistic turn that leads to a classmate assaulting him over a girl. Because Gary sees no meaning in his life thus far, he halfheartedly attempts to find it, but most of his time is spent working enough to get by and drinking his life away. It's no wonder he would find Duke on a stage performing his acts of physical improbabilities and want to approach
