(urth) the circus of Dr. Lao

[Sergei SOLOVIEV]

Did Gene Wolfe ever mention the book called "The circus of Dr. Lao"? 
It's a curious
book, first published in 1935 by Charles G. Finney. I recently got a 
second edition -
University of Nebraska Press, 2002. There is curiously many parallels 
with GW writings.

The story goes that to a small town, Abalone in Arizona, comes (in 
1930-es) the circus
of Dr. Lao. Then the development goes along surrealistic/magic lines, 
but the style
sounds very modern.

Direct parallels:
1) there is a catalogue of characters, like in the BotLS and BotSS
books - in somewhat similar style
"Dr. Lao: A Chinese
Mr. Etaoin: A corrector of errors
Appolonius of Tyana: A legend
...
Teddy Roosevelt: An American President
...
"
2) there is a Hound of the Hedges - it is a green dog who uses 
photosynthesis, like the Green Man
in the BotNS

3) There is a Gadarene Swine (one of the swine from the Bible, Jesus 
sent devils into
it) like in the short story about the Pig in Chains by GW.

4) There is a She-werevolf.

5) A Mermaid

6) A lot of dialogs (GW mentions that he loves dialogs) in particular, 
between human and
non-human personnages - Mr. Etaoin speaks at lenght with the Sea Serpent.
...

Best

Sergei Soloviev