Banned Books: Water for Elephants

Date and Time for this Past Event

• Tuesday, Oct 7, 2025  6pm - 7pm

Location

visit website

Details

Celebrate the freedom to read with the Banned Book Club. In October, we're reading Water for Elephants. We will discuss not only the book itself, but also the concepts of free speech and censorship as we encounter them in the modern world.

Synopsis

Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. There he meets the freaks, grifters, and misfits that populate this world. He introduces us to Marlena, beautiful star of the equestrian act; to August, her charismatic but twisted husband (and the circus's animal trainer); and to Rosie, the seemingly untrainable elephant Jacob cares for. Beautifully written, with a luminous sense of time and place, Water for Elephants tells of love in a world in which love's a luxury few can afford.