BOOKS
by Ray St. Louis
"It's the new vaudeville, man!"

With these few words, Jack Horner - juggler, clown, social misfit - sums up the
allure of the fledgling Renaissance festival circuit of the early 1980s. It is a world
set apart from the mainstream, a niche culture complete with its own rules,
vocabulary, morality, and cast of offbeat characters: Little Jack Horner, Johnny
Magic Hands, the Happy Henchmen, King John Broussard, Bonnie Prince Charlie,
Slimey Limey.

And, of course, Gulliver Finn, the narrator of The Road Dog Diary.

Gulliver leads his troupe of plucky stilt dancers and spirited musicians, the Stone
Soup Performing Company, on a cross-country odyssey that encompasses one
full season of Renaissance festivals. Along the way, they encounter a curious
alternate universe full of surprises including a fair owner who bulldozes the
booths of festival merchants with whom he disagrees; a delivery driver who
trades cigarettes for a sneak peek at skinny-dipping Renaissance hippie chicks;
a stoned star-maker of an entertainment director who lands, for one of his
performing acts, a spot on the Merv Griffin show; an unofficial after-hours pub
that encourages rude behavior,; a certifiably eccentric waltzing craftsman who
dances with invisible partners and hosts notorious pagan parties; and a slew of
invented "Rennie" holidays such as Mushroom Monday, the Funky Formal, and
the midnight group streaking event known as the Wolf Run.

Add to the mix a healthy portion of the usual hazards of life on the road - the
breakdowns, the rain, mud, chiggers, fire ants, the skirmishes with festival
management and the law - and you have the makings of a rollicking epic
adventure down a seldom visited back road of the American experience.
Watch this space for news of
book II of the Road Dog trilogy -
Ride a Cock Horse
Available at