From Library Journal
This rather unusual novel tells the story of title character Arcadio, a runaway tent-show hermaphrodite searching for his/her family. LJ's reviewer found that "the novel's most compelling aspect is Arcadio's lyrical voice, combining knowledge of a corrupted world with a childlike faith" (LJ 11/15/83). For literary collections.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Completed while he was dying, William Goyen's Arcadio is one of the most affecting and imaginative farewells to life ever written. Arcadio, whose voice is inimitably Goyenesque, is a creature from beyond the normal walks of life. Half man, half woman, raised in a whorehouse and for years the veteran exhibitionist in an itinerant circus sideshow, he has escaped from the show and has been wandering in a quest for his lost family. Speaking intimately to the reader, he tells the bizarre and fantastic tale of his life. This unforgettable novel is the crown of Goyen's exploration of the forms and feelings that could be compassed within fiction.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal