The Outsiders carries the reader into a strange new world, behind the scenes and into the everyday lives of a small, isolated group of people. These are the side-show artists, the freaks--sword swallowers, fat and bearded and tattooed ladies, giants, midgets, fire-eaters. All of us have seen them, displayed on platforms at so much per look.
This novel shows how they live behind the facade of indifference they present in their public existence, and how they are affected by the abnormalities which earn them their daily bread.
It is also the story of Pel Pelham, a normal man who makes a business of exploiting these curiosities to the paying public. Pel is a product of an orphanage. He has fought his way on the shady side of the streets. He has the wit and understanding to make these people his friends.
When murder happens in their midst and they are suspect, it is Pel who, by solving the crimes, wins justice for these outsiders