The Circus of Dr. Lao (1935) is a novel written by the American newspaperman and writer Charles G. Finney. It won one of the inaugural National Book Awards: the Most Original Book of 1935. Although the first edition was illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff, many later editions omit the illustrations. Plot summary The novel is set in the fictional town of Abalone, Arizona. A circus owned by a Chinese man named Dr. Lao pulls into town one day, carrying legendary creatures from all areas of mythology and legend, among them a sea serpent, Apollonius of Tyana (who tells dark, yet always truthful, fortunes), a medusa, and a satyr. Through interactions with the circus, the locals attain various enigmatic peak experiences appropriate to each one's personality. The tale ends with the town becoming the site of a ritual to a pagan god whimsically given the name Yottle, possibly an allusion to the Mesoamerican god Yaotl, whose name means "the enemy". The ritual ends when the god himself slays a virgin, her unrequited lover, and his own priest. The circus over, the townsfolk scatter to the winds. Apparently few of them profit from the surreal experiences. The book's appendix is a "catalogue" of all the people, places, items, and mythological beings mentioned in the novel, summing up the characters pithily and sardonically, revealing the various fates of the townsfolk, and listing a number of plot holes and unanswered questions not addressed in the book. List of Dr. Lao's captured animals: Satyr: 2,300 years old, he was captured in Tu-jeng, China, near the Great Wall. He was born of the union of a goatherd and one of his goats. Medusa: She is very young and wears very little clothing. She has many species of snakes in her hair, of which three are mentioned: tantillas, brown with a black ring around their neck; night snakes, gray with black spots; and faded snakes (Arizona elegans). She is a Sonoran medusa from northern Mexico. Roc chick, "Really not as big as Sinbad thought it was, but plenty big enough to do all that he said it did." It hatches from an egg that sweats salt water. Hound of the hedges: Created when water touched a dry rice field for the first time in many years. His tail is made of ferns; his fur is green grass; instead of teeth he has rose thorns; his blood and saliva