Stewart O'Nan is almost an author I adore, but he defies clear categorization as he writes beautifully in a number of genres. This is the first book I read by him, and it sparked a abiding interest in well-written disaster books. In 1944, a massive fire broke out at a circus in Hartford. Simply written and incredibly evocative, this book is a fascinating portrait of wartime America as well as of humanity and how we respond to disastrous events.
