The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, friendship and other circus acts

A new book of creative nonfiction in an unusual format, this is a biography of Ethiopian circus artist Sosina Wogayehu written by Australian author David Carlin, who is a memoirist. Carlin uses extensive interviews with Wogayehu, who is a personal friend, in combination with the techniques of memoir to produce a biography that reads like a memoir written in the third person. Wogayehu works her way from a childhood selling candy and other favors on the streets of Addis Ababa to a circus school to a career as a professional performer with Circus Oz in Australia while juggling an international scandal at the circus, dying family members, and an uncertain legal status as an underage refugee. The book is well written and will be of interest to both general readers and students and teachers of nonfiction. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation 2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)