Comparing The Sword Swallower And A Chico Kid By Gary Robinson

What would you do if you had the chance to join the circus? How would you star in your own personal sideshow? And most importantly, if you could be yourself—completely yourself—who would you be? These are the questions asked and answered for one fictional man in The Sword Swallower and A Chico Kid by Gary Robinson, a fictional novel based partly off a true story.

The beginning of the story follows fifteen-year-old Duke Reynolds who runs away from home in the early 1980s to join the circus traveling through his hometown. He starts out doing odd jobs and, over time, perfects the art of sword swallowing and ends up working 10 different gigs. While in the circus, he becomes dependent on alcohol and methamphetamine, believing that the only future available is the future of the present moment.

However, when the circus is shut down due to lack of security and a fatal accident, Duke’s life comes crumbling down around him. He reaches rock bottom, but finds his way back up by teaching those around him.

On the other side of the coin is the Chico Kid, aka Gary Robinson. He is comes from a troubled background and finds himself in the same shoes as Duke…without the circus. Before long, Gary finds himself struggling to find work and on the verge of being evicted. A college student addicted to

The scenes were written well, yet often missed the punch that the author was looking for and left the general message of the book lacking. I feel this is the case because of the minimal character growth we see from the two lead characters. They keep repeating the same cycles and never really learn how to get out. At least, not once do we witness that in the story, even though in later chapters Duke is suddenly clean of alcohol addiction. There are small passages in the end about how they both give up alcohol, though it isn’t as significant as one would