On this month's program, St.John Flynn is joined by Georgia author Renee Dodd [pictured]. She'll be live in the Cover to Cover studio to talk and take listener calls about her debut novel, A Cabinet of Wonders (Toby Press, 2006), a story about finding the humanity in the "attractions" of a circus freak show.

From the Book Jacket

When the curtains are drawn back on the cabinet of wonders, every individual you meet is an original, the indelible mark of their uniqueness shaped in their flesh. Molly and Faye are spirited teenagers – and conjoined twins. Saffron is the Wolf Girl, her female form covered head to toe in fur. Alex/Alexandra is a seductive morphodite, her male/female parts irresistible to many.

To the rubes that pay good coin to see them, they are Freaks. To the other carnies – those who run the Ferris Wheel, the Girl Show, and more – they are the Starlight Carnival Royale's most lucrative source of income, and sometimes, friends. To Shadrach the tattooed man of God who travels with them, they are evidence of the divine. For Dugan – scholar, businessman, romantic, and dwarf – the cabinet of wonders is more than just his business, it's his family and the center of his universe, and he'll do everything he can to keep it together… despite the rifts that are appearing after three years on the road.

Set in 1927, this marvelous tale confronts the spectacle of the Freak Show, steps through the curtains and out the other side, taking the reader to a candid, complex and human space where they can know outsiders as intimates.

About the Author

Born in Atlanta, Renee Dodd's childhood was divided between urban and rural Georgia. Renee (whose name is pronounced "Renny") received an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from the University of Houston and teaches creative writing at Georgia College and State University.

Granddaughter of football Hall of Famer Coach Bobby Dodd, whom she describes as "a big-hearted man and a wonderful storyteller," Renee lives in Milledgeville, Georgia, where she is currently at work on a second novel.

For more information about Renee Dodd, visit her website, www.reneedodd.com.

Praise for Renee Dodd and A Cabinet of Wonders

• "Dodd's prose is graceful, smooth, and intelligent, and...is sure to please many readers. Highly recommended." - Library Journal, Starred Review
• "A rare treat: a diverting and insightful piece of quirky fiction." - Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
• "Dodd's quirky, moving and utterly unique novel has crisp, smart writing and amazing verisimilitude of place, time and character. No voyeuristic freak show, Cabinet of Wonders is about the perils of marginalization and the costs of acceptance." - The Baltimore Sun
• "One of the year's most promising literary debuts...Dodd's writing is irresistable from the opening lines." - The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
• "Renee Dodd has achieved something wondrous...she has taken characters we tend to shun as "other" and made them into ourselves by involving us in their passion, their pain, and their vulnerable, hopeful laughter. A great debut!" - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of Arranged Marriage: Stories and Mistress of Spices