Water for Elephants: a novel - Sara Gruen

I picked this up because it was written by one of the NaNoNovelists who wrote a pep-talk last year. My expectations were not very high but I have changed my tune.

I literally could not put this book down, I read it in one evening and stayed up far too late to finish it. It is now on my book purchase wish list. (Someone remind me to read it again shortly before NaNo this year!)

Essentially it's about a boy who drops out of vet school and joins the circus, but the story is also told from the perspective of that same boy as an old man in a nursing home when the circus comes to town. Main characters include a performer/love interest, a dwarf and his dog, a paranoid schizophrenic and an elephant.