Clown Dust

Bill Boyle read the novel THE HUSTLER over the weekend. He says, "It's amazing! Way better than the movie." Plus it has a sad clown in it, and Bill has kindly taken the time to type up for us every mention of the sad clown: "The walls were of gray, cracked plaster, but on one of them, over a painted brick fireplace with broken bricks, hung a huge picture in a white frame. The picture was of a sad-looking clown in a bright orange suit, holding a staff. Eddie looked at this carefully, not understanding what it meant, but liking it. The clown looked mean as a snake... He [Fast Eddie] walked back into the living room and, not looking at Sarah, looked instead at the clown. The clown looked back, sad and mean, holding the wooden staff. His fingers were painted in only sketchily, but they were graceful and sure of themselves. The clown was, apparently, unhappy, but was not to be pushed around; a good, solid clown and a figure to be respected... The apartment was clean, cleaner than he had ever seen it. Even the clown's frame had been dusted off!... He was looking at her [Sarah's] face, fascinated by her skin, which seemed to glow in the soft light from the living room lamp. But he felt nothing, only a simple, admiring fascination, as if he were looking at the orange clown on Sarah's wall, the one in the white frame. The clown that had once seemed ready to tell him something." I guess my favorite thing is the exclamation point that signals how incredible it is for someone to dust a clown painting. Bill watched the movie again, keeping an eye out for sad clowns and spied nary a one, to his disappointment. I would only point out that Jackie Gleason is in it, Jackie Gleason - whose sad-clownness has been debated on this very "blog." I don't think anyone will disagree that the best thing to do was illustrate this "post" with a creepy Jackie Gleason doll.