Book Review: The Greatest of Ease by Teri Bayus
I know I love a book when I want to be best friends with the author after reading the book.
That was how I felt when reading The Greatest of Ease by Teri Bayus. Fortunately, Teri is one of my dearest friends. We met a few years ago when she asked me to be a featured speaker at the Central Coast Writers Conference.
Teri and I immediately connected during our conversations leading up to the conference. I jumped at the chance to meet her when Teri mentioned she and her family were spending the Christmas holidays near my home in the Mexican Caribbean.
“So, I ran away and joined the circus,” Teri said, laughing. Her wild red hair drifted in a halo around her hair. Meanwhile, her husband, Gary, scooped his dessert. Gary had heard these stories at least a gazillion times.
For the next two hours, Teri regaled us with stories about the time she decided to blow off her full college ride and become a circus trapeze artist.
She novelized the story, which would later become The Greatest of Ease, now available in hardback, paperback, and e-book.
“As she finds herself wandering the dysfunctional circus life, she realizes the safety net of the existence she once knew is unraveling,” Teri says in her book synopsis. “This honest, daring, and sexy story is about mysterious circus culture through the eyes of a young woman with a dream of flying. The Greatest of Ease is a roman a clef giving readers a fascinating, detailed view of circus life circa 1980.”
However, Teri sells herself a bit short in the synopsis because The Greatest of Ease is so much more than the synopsis promises.
Teri writes deftly and entertainingly about the time in many young women’s lives when they want to discover who they are and do whatever they want – no matter how crazy it might sound.
“I’ve learned in my sixty years on the planet that I am a unicorn,” Teri tells the reader in the first chapter. “I love instantly and completely. I’m fearless and will try anything once…I have no sense of time and no regard for money, and I dance like I’m on fire.”
Gail, the book’s narrator, remains curious about the circus, even as she begins to witness its underbelly.
“The cages of the animals were caked with food and feces,” Gail says. “The tux-clad prop guys now were in blue coveralls, and their unshaven faces and toothless smiles showed their true essence. I could barely stand to see this version, so I ran outside.”
Those sentences can be a metaphor for anyone who chases after a dream – be it a business, relationship, family, or bucket list goal -- and must decide whether they will love it anyway.
The Greatest of Ease is more than an entertaining story that should be immediately optioned for television and film. The reader learns interesting and insightful facts about circus history, which are unobtrusively sprinkled in the story. For example, I didn’t know that a French performer named Jules Leotard (I kid you not) invented the trapeze. Also, what we commonly refer to as the “safety net” underneath the trapeze is one of the most dangerous parts of its construction.
“Considered the pinnacle of circus acts, the flying trapeze troupe is the headline entertainment at every circus,” Teri writes. “All the troupes are family supported, and most stretch back ten generations.”
I recommend The Greatest of Ease for yourself or anyone on your holiday list. It is an endearing redemption story that reminds us that while we all make mistakes, it’s how and when we get up that matters.