The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll
**Overview of "The Land of Laughs"**
"The Land of Laughs" is the debut novel by Jonathan Carroll, initially published in a manner that suggested it was intended for a younger audience due to its themes involving a children's author. The story follows Thomas Abbey, an English teacher grappling with the legacy of his deceased actor father. He becomes captivated by the works of Marshall France, a beloved children's author, and is encouraged by Saxony Gardner to write France's biography. Their research takes them to Galen, Missouri, where they uncover unsettling truths about the town and its residents, revealing that many are actually characters created by France. As Abbey becomes more engrossed in his writing, he faces bizarre occurrences, including witnessing a talking dog and experiencing a tragic event involving a boy and a car.
The plot thickens with Abbey's growing relationship with Anna France, leading to conflict with Gardner. The narrative culminates in a shocking turn of events that forces Abbey to confront the implications of his work and the nature of reality in Galen. Ultimately, the novel explores themes of creation, identity, and the consequences of storytelling, establishing itself as a cult classic in contemporary literature.
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The Land of Laughs
First published: 1980
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Fantasy—Magical Realism
Time of work: The 1970’s
Locale: Galen, Missouri
The Plot
The Land of Laughs was Jonathan Carroll’s first published novel. When it first appeared, it was misleadingly packaged as a juvenile book, most likely because one of the main characters is a writer of children’s stories. It was not until a paperback edition of The Land of Laughs appeared in 1983 that the book began to earn more critical attention, and it has since become something of a cult classic.
Thomas Abbey, a man in his mid-thirties who teaches English at a boys’ prep school, is trying to deal with being the son of a famous actor who died in a plane crash. He leads a solitary life, wrapped up in his hobbies of collecting masks and the written works of Marshall France, a dead but still famous children’s book author who captured the imagination of both children and adults with his vivid imagery and poetic prose.
Abbey meets Saxony Gardner, a woman who shares his enthusiasm for France’s work. With her encouragement, he decides to write a biography of France. Together they travel to Galen, Missouri, the small town where France spent the later years of his life. After obtaining permission from Anna France, the writer’s daughter, to begin their research, Abbey and Gardner rent rooms in the town and begin to explore Galen and meet its inhabitants.
Gradually, they realize there is something odd about the little town. Abbey witnesses a boy getting hit by a car and is shocked that the townspeople are far less concerned about the boy’s life than about the identity of the car’s driver. Stranger and stranger things happen, until one day Abbey hears a dog talking in its sleep. He confronts Anna, who confesses that her father wrote an unfinished work detailing the lives of every resident of Galen through the year 3014. All the townspeople except Anna and a man named Richard Lee are France’s creations rather than normal people. Abbey also learns that France died unexpectedly of a heart attack, and the events chronicled in his journals are no longer happening precisely as they should—for example, the boy was supposed to be hit by a car and die, but the wrong person hit him. Anna believes that if Abbey can write a biography of France that truly catches the man’s spirit, Abbey will be able to continue the future history of Galen and ensure that the townspeople live on as France envisioned.
Caught up in the unbelievable events happening all around him, Abbey plunges into writing the biography and begins an affair with Anna behind Gardner’s back. Gardner, hurt by Abbey’s infidelity, leaves town to think things over but comes back as Abbey finishes the chapter detailing France’s arrival in Galen by train years earlier. The townspeople plan a party at the train station, supposedly to celebrate Abbey’s progress on the biography. As Abbey leaves the rented house to join them, the house explodes and Gardner is killed. Abbey realizes that Galen’s inhabitants planted the bomb. They no longer need Abbey and Gardner, because Abbey has written Marshall France back into being. The party at the train station actually was a welcoming celebration for the re-created France. Mourning Gardner’s death, Abbey flees to Europe, where he eventually uses his newly discovered talent to write his father’s biography, bringing him back to life to make peace with him.