At the Freak Show

Title: At the Freak Show
Author: Candas Jane Dorsey
ISBN: 9781773857022
Publisher: University of Calgary Press
Published: 2026
Binding: Paperback
Language: English
Number of Pages: 258
Condition Note: New from the publisher
Publisher Description:

Asa has spent their whole life seeing another face in the mirror, the face of their conjoint twin who died during a catastrophic attempt to separate them at age three. The lone survivor, Asa has lived their life in between. Assigned a gender for surgical convenience, Asa has at time identified as male, at other times, female. But through music, Asa finds acceptance of their true, non-binary, gender-fluid self.

Asa is unashamed and unafraid, but life outside the binary is not easy. As Asa becomes a famous musician, they must face the people who find their existence a threat. Life as a lone twin is also not easy. Asa knows themself, but must always wonder what could have been. Throughout their journey, Asa experiences visions of alternate universes, some that include the survival of their conjoined twin Angelo, who Asa calls mirror boy.

A stunningly original work that breaks new literary ground, At the Freak Show smashes together speculative fiction, coming of age, social justice fiction, rock biography, and literary mastery to create a timeless, human story about the search for belonging and self-acceptance.