How long does it take to read The Circus of Dr. Lao?
Charles G. Finney
The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney takes about 2 hours 49 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 2 hours 49 minutes
An evening's read
First published 1935. 154 pages, about 42,350 words.
6 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 4 hours 42 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 2 hours 49 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 1 hour 46 minutes |
The page count is the median across 10 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Abalone, Arizona, is a sleepy southwestern town whose chief concerns are boredom and surviving the Great Depression—that is, until the circus of Dr. Lao arrives and immensely and irrevocably changes the lives of everyone drawn to its tents. Expecting a sideshow spectacle, the citizens of Abalone instead confront and learn profound lessons from the mythical made real—a chimera, a Medusa, a talking sphinx, a sea serpent, witches, the Hound of the Hedges, a werewolf, a mermaid, an ancient god, and the elusive, ever-changing Dr. Lao himself. The circus unfolds, spinning magical, dark strands that ensnare the town’s populace: the sea serpent’s tale shatters love’s illusions; the fortune-teller’s shocking pronouncements toll the tedium and secret dread of every person’s life; sensual undercurrents pour forth for men and women alike; and the dead walk again. Dazzling and macabre, literary and philosophical, The Circus of Dr. Lao has been acclaimed as a masterpiece of speculative fiction and influenced such writers as Ray Bradbury.
Subjects: Circus, Circus performers, Depressions, Fiction, Mythology, Arizona, fiction
