From William McInnes - THE LAUGHING CLOWNS is a novel that shows you can discover what is important in life just by going back home. Peter Kennedy is a very large man who is remarkably happy with his life. Yet something's not quite right, and it started with a dream that smelt of luncheon meat. Peter is successful at what he does, even though he's not sure what that is anymore. When Titan Development contracts him to go to Queensland to assess a prime piece of real estate - the Pickersgill Peninsula Showgrounds - he jumps at the chance. It will give him time out from having to be with the family he loves. And it will take him back to the home where he grew up; to his parents, who are members of the Show society, his twin sister Pearl, a bingo caller and foster mother, and his brother Gary, the TV weatherman. Over these few days, he will come to realise that sometimes when you go back to where you came from you find out how much you actually have, and how much you could lose. All he has to do is make his mind up, and listen to the advice that's given by, of all people - the King of Hot Dogs. But will he?