The Circus Performers’ Bar is a second collection of finely crafted stories by David Arnason, written in every conceivable style: the urbane New Yorker story, the fireside chat, the war correspondent’s report, the poignant personal memoir and the hysterical small-town gossip. Hilarious role reversals and role substitutions provide the context through which a male neo-consciousness takes shape in a world dominated by the feminist vision. Various adorations of Snow White by her seven dwarves and the de-fanging of the wolf by Little Red Riding Hood are guaranteed to leave the reader choking with laughter and howling far into the night. Each story constitutes a new search for competence in a world where innate ability may have become historically déclassé, and laboriously-acquired facility may lead only to seasickness.