Water for Elephants

I've been wanting to read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen since it took the bestseller lists by storm a couple of years ago. So, when I borrowed a Kindle from work to try e-reading, it was the first book I thought of. It was great for a quick, summer read. It's engaging with great characters and just enough literary flavor so you don't feel like you're reading trash.

Jacob Jankowski is about to graduate with a veterinary degree from Cornell when his parents are killed in a tragic accident. He freezes during his final exams and walks out and away from the school. He hops on board a train in the middle of a night . . . only to find it's a circus train. When the circus staff discovers he is a veterinarian--at least in all but degree--they hire him on. We meet a whole cast of characters--the hot-tempered animal handle, the delicate horse rider, the corrupt manager, a midget clown--and feel the class struggle between the performers and the working men. Set against the Depression and Prohibition, Gruen even throws a little history in.

It's an absorbing story, and the only surprise about the upcoming movie is that it didn't come out sooner after the book's great success--especially with book clubs. I read that Rob Pattinson from Twilight is playing Jacob . . . I might have cast Zac Efron instead, but that's just personal preference. It will probably make a good, period movie for the fall serious movie season.