The Great and Secret Show
Cover of first UK edition
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| Author | Clive Barker |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Art Trilogy |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Collins |
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Publication date
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January 1990 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 20669762 |
| 823/.914 20 | |
| LC Class | PR6052.A6475 G7 1989 |
| Followed by | Everville |
The Great and Secret Show is a novel by British author Clive Barker. It was released in 1989 and it is the first "Book of the Art" in a trilogy, known as The Art Trilogy by fans.
The novel is about the conflict between two highly evolved men – Randolph Jaffe and Richard Fletcher – over the mystical dream sea called Quiddity. Jaffe hopes to tap into Quiddity's power while Fletcher wants to prevent it from being tainted. The conflict between the two men spills into the real world in a decades-long feud, distorting reality and affecting the entire human race.
Clive Barker has said in interviews that this novel was the hardest to write of all his books.
While working in the dead letter office in Nebraska in 1969, a disgruntled postal clerk named Randolph Jaffe discovers hints to a mysterious part of society known as "The Shoal" that are ostensibly practising what seems to be a form of magic only vaguely known as "The Art". His search eventually brings him to Trinity, New Mexico, where he encounters the mysterious "Kissoon" who claims to be the last of the Shoal. From Kissoon he learns of the mystical dream sea Quiddity and the islands within it known as the Ephemeris. Quiddity, as it turns out, is visible exactly three times to an ordinary human: The first time we ever sleep outside our mother's womb, the first time we sleep beside the one we truly love and the last time we ever sleep before we die. However; this simply is not enough for the megalomaniac Jaffe, who wishes to actually visit the dream sea in person and gain control of it. Jaffe flees when Kissoon tries to bargain for his body, and later teams up with a scientist named Fletcher who is able to create a liquid called the 'Nuncio'. Nuncio is theoretically able to enable a human to evolve to a state that would enable him to physically reach Quiddity. Fletcher has second thoughts however, realising that Jaffe will only use Nuncio for evil, and destroys his laboratory. Jaffe arrives and both are exposed to the Nuncio. The two battle each other for a year and their spirits arrive in Palomo Grove in California in 1971. There, they rape and impregnate four teenage girls. One of the girls is infertile and fails to give birth while another kills herself and her child after giving birth. The third, Trudi Katz, moves away with her baby Howard while the fourth, Joyce McGuire gives birth to twins, Jo-Beth and Tommy Ray.
Eighteen years pass. Howard returns to Palomo Grove after the death of his mother. While Jaffe and Fletcher produced offspring to continue their battle, Howard and Jo-Beth instead fall in love after meeting. When a former TV comedian, Buddy Vance, passes away at the cave where the lake once was, Fletcher and Jaffe are able to escape. Jaffe is able to amass an army of creatures known as Terata using the minds of vulnerable people and gets his son Tommy Ray on his side as well. Howard encounters Fletcher, who explains his heritage to him. Fletcher explains Quiddity to Howard, telling him that the islands Ephemeris contain the Great and Secret Show. However, Howard refuses to align with his father. Meanwhile, a reporter, Grillo, and his friend Tesla arrive to Palomo Grove to report on Vance's death. Fletcher is unable to amass his own army of hallucigenia from the mind of dreamers and instead kills himself through immolation, spreading his essence to the people of the town.
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