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January 31, 2006

The Great Zuchinni

Over at The Volokh Conspiracy, Jim Lindgren points out a fantasic piece of journalism. The subject of the story is an odd man, full of troubles and contradictions, who just happens to be the highest-paid children's party entertainer in the Washington DC area. His name is The Great Zuchinni.

"In the two months I'd gotten to know him, I'd seen several slightly awkward encounters between Eric and a parent, but not one such moment between Eric and a child. It's tempting to imagine him as Holden Caulfield imagined himself, protector of children's souls, poised beside the field of rye at the edge of a cliff, catching them before they plummet to their spiritual deaths. But this man with the guardian angel on his shoulder; who forfeits love for gambling but looks to find it in a strip club; who can't tie a tie or remember to pay a bill; who makes a tidy living but doesn't know where the money goes; who can't recall things that deliver him emotional pain; who solemnly prays to God in the bathroom before every performance for the strength and wisdom to make the 4-year-olds giggle -- this guy has not yet surrendered himself, as Holden reluctantly did, to adulthood. He may never. Maybe it's that he's seen the alternative, and wants no part of it."

Take the time to read this. It's nice to find such well-written work about a truly interesting individual, involved in a world that, to me, seems so alien yet familiar.

Posted by Lockjaw at January 31, 2006 10:07 AM

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