The Great And Secret Show (Book of the Art #1)

by Clive Barker

“You know what a shaman is?” “Sure,” said Grillo. “Medicine-man. Witch-doctor.” “More than that,” she said. “He’s a mind-healer. Gets inside the collective psyche and explains it. Stirs it around. I think all the major performers in this—Kissoon, the Jaff, Fletcher—they’re shamans. And Quiddity . . . is America’s dream-space. The world’s maybe. I’ve seen these men fucking it up, Grillo. All on their own trips. Even Fletcher couldn’t get his shit together.” “So maybe what’s needed is a change of shaman,” Grillo said. “Yeah. Why not?” Tesla replied. “I can’t do any worse than they have.” “That’s why you want to keep it to yourself.” “That’s one of the reasons, sure. I can do this, Grillo. I’m weird enough, and most of these shamans, you know, were a little off in some way. Cross-dressers; gender-fuckers. All things to all men. Animal, vegetable and mineral. I want to be that. I’ve always wanted . . . ,” she trailed off. “. . . you know what I’ve always wanted.”