Geek Love

In this chapter, Oly recounts anecdotes from her early life with her family. At this point in Oly’s life, father Al is very much in charge of the family and of the Fabulon. He coaches Oly in becoming a “barker,” the person who stands outside a carnival tent and persuades customers to pay to enter with a running dialogue about the wonders of the act. The twins, Elly and Iphy, practice the piano with Lil’s guidance and become very accomplished at duets. Arty works on his act as Aqua Boy, becoming more and more successful as a performer. Using tire treads over his fins, he can move about when not performing by slithering over the ground. Otherwise, he uses a wheelchair.

Arty proves to be extremely clever and becomes the leader of his siblings. He also takes over Al’s orchestration of his act, choosing his own style over Al’s directions. Arty says, “It’s a fiendish waste to get ‘em in a beautiful sucker zone of mind and then not do anything with them,” so he has crafted a mesmerizing show to draw crowds in by claiming to be an oracle (50). 

The twins are devoted to each other, but have very different personalities: “Arty speculated that their two brains functioned as the right and left lobes of a single brain” (51).