Book Review: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I read this book in 1 day; albeit most of that day was spent in the airport with a delayed flight over the holidays. It's a really good book about a interesting topic, the travelling circus in the 1930's. The story is told from the perspective of a man in his 90's looking at his life now and telling the story of how he joined the circus. It is full of interesting circus like characters. What I found great about the book is the perspective from a 90 year old man and of his description of his life in his 90's living in a nursing home. I really feel that our society puts great value and attention on youth and the elderly are dismissed very easily. This generation has so much to offer us and we often just view them as a burden. This book will make you think twice about your attitude towards the elderly. I think, although the circus story is interesting, the true gem of this book is how it makes us think about life 75 plus and how we treat the elders in our lives. Just think of the stories that you could learn from the elders in your life!