Lobster Boy

Gibsonton Florida is a strange and funny place. It's a town full of off-season and retired performers, enjoying the cheap rent, warm air, and easygoing lifestyle. But unlike Sarasota, where the big circuses spend the winter, Gibsonton is for the carny people. If you prefer a better known term; circus freaks! In Gibsonton, a bearded lady could go shopping without being stared at. A three-legged woman and her dwarf husband could stroll around without anybody pointing. It was a place where sideshow people could be accepted by each other, and where it wasn't unusual to have carnival trailers in driveways. Though Gibsonton's "human oddities" are almost always pleasant, one of them was far from it. Grady Stiles, part of a long line of people with "claw hands", was a mean, vicious alcoholic and wife beater. Though he had no legs and his hands were two-fingered claws, he was far from defenseless. His upper-body strength was incredible, and his grip was all-powerful. If you got his claw around your throat, you were in trouble! Grady Stiles had been through a lot as a child. Growing up in the 1940's with a deformity was not an asset; people spat at him and threw Holy Water at him, called him "devil child" and other terrible names. With no legs, he got around on his hands and knees, developing his super-powerful arms. As an adult, he married an abused teenage runaway whom he abused for years. He beat his wife, drank, beat her some more, bullied his family, drank, beat them up daily, killed his daughter's fiance, etc. But all the while, he kept a sweet face for the police, judges, and business people. Grady Stiles could con anyone; after all, he'd been raised in a carnival.

Lobster Boy! The story may shock you and leave you forever changed. This book rocked! I bought it because the cover was so freaking hilarious. He is a sight to behold. I sat out in the sun reading this two summers ago and couldn't put it down, I looked a bit Lobsterish by the time I was done. Find out all you need to know about The Fat Man, The Migdet Man, and of course, Lobster boy, in this wonderful book. It is a true story, which only makes it that much greater!

In "Lobster Boy," Fred Rosen executes brilliantly the essential elements of a provocative story: strong character development, suspense, and attention to detail. The characters have distinct voices and successfully serve as foils and mirrors against each other. All of them reflect pieces of ourselves.All in all, it was beautifully written; Rosen's crisp, poetic imagery and fluid language create a lush and present environment for a complex, deeply disturbing story. I was fascinated by how well Rosen navigated layers of psychological/family dynamics in this book. An incredibly realistic account, psychologically speaking, of the haunting emotional devastation wreaked upon a family given a father's narcissistic investment in his own fame --and a mother's passivity. Rosen's writing enables us to strengthen our awareness of political and sociological issues present in patriarchal culture, social class, and sideshows. This book had me turning one page after another, unable to set it down. When finished, I spent a long time discussing it over coffee; I was so moved by the book, as well as energized by Rosen's storytelling ability and insight. Highly recommended.

This is one of my favorite true-crime books and I have reccomended it to most of my friends and family. The cruel Dickensenian fate of little Grady is told with a deadpan serious style. I'm afraid even David Lynch would have a hard time topping this.

Lobster Boy is a great story. Loads of conspiracy and action. The writing tends to become a bit dry in areas but if you can get through the minor writing flaws, it is a tremendously rewarding book.