Cole Alpaugh's book, The Bear in a Muddy Tutu, immediately had my full attention as it began with the story of Buddy Wayne Hooduk, an odd character of sorts who has just abandoned his needy mother and is intent on convincing people that he is God. With stolen guidebook in hand, How To Become a Cult Leader in 50 Easy Steps, Buddy sets out to find his flock. Odd circumstances cause Buddy to take charge of a run-down traveling circus where an oddball loser like Buddy doesn't seem so out of place.
It is here in the book that the reader is introduced to a variety of characters and you quickly learn that this book just isn't about Buddy. In fact, pretty soon Buddy is out of the center circus ring and we find ourselves following the story lines of several other more interesting characters from a drunken ranger obsessed with killing bugs to a lonely reporter who has lost his daughter thanks to his ex-wife running away with the little girl.
And since you are following a circus, there's all sorts of Midway characters and Side Show freaks coming and going from the storyline that, while not the center of the plot, are just as alluring. A sexy contortionist, a man who has survived lightning strikes a dozen times, the flat man, and the human cannonball to name a few.
My favorite character had to be Gracie the Dancing Bear - an old toothless bear in a pink tutu who becomes separated from the circus during a bizarre accident. Alpaugh treats Gracie's point of view no differently than when he is writing about the other characters. It's as if this is a story he's engagingly told out loud for years possibly to his children. In fact, Gracie becomes a living metaphor for a story Lennon Bagg, the reporter, used to tell to his daughter Morgan at bedtime each night about a bear who wanted a circus magician to turn her into a bird.
Although the reader's attention is focused on Buddy and whether or not he can convince the circus that he is indeed God and whether or not they will build a altar to him, the underlying focus of the book will take you by surprise. It is in fact the story of Lennon and his daughter. The author bares his soul as we witness the desperate loneliness of Lennon who has been searching for Morgan for over a year.
And then we are treated to chapters told from Morgan's point of view as she is stowed away in Bermuda after her mother told her Daddy was dead. Obsessed with birds and convinced her father has turned into one, Morgan becomes the punchline of her classmates' jokes as she searches the island and talks to birds about her father. And sometimes the birds talk back!
I was a third of the way through the book and still had no idea where the sotry was taking me. Buddy and the circus attempt to set up permanent residence on an old island, while Lennon finds Gracie and tries to reunite her with the circus. And yet, by the last page, the reader is treated to an ending that is as satisfying as cold lemonade and cotton candy.
Alpaugh pens a world of fascinating characters, not to mention their bizarre unforgettable names, reminding us that it is our individuality and uniqueness that makes each of us special in our own way. If we look past our differences, we can see people for who they really are and we can appreciate the little things that make each of us tick.
The fate of each character plays on our hearts as Alpaugh takes us deeper and deeper into each persona. I felt like I knew these characters inside and out, and while the story might lack action at times, the author pushes the story forward with a multitude of point-of-views. If you are looking for a "big top" read with lots of heart and laughs, and characters you can sit down with to listen to their story for a spell, magic, whimsy, and dancing bears, then look no further than Cole Alpaugh's The Bear in a Muddy Tutu.
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