NP except circuitously; a metaphor branches; goes mainstream

[Mark Kohut]

LeCarre's name for the Intelligence Agency behind it all is "The Circus". Pynchon, others,
use the concept to describe the crazy acrobatics and performances of (certain)
social realities. [ I cannot offhand remember an exact use of circus in GR or ATD,
and am not going to check but I do remember Carnivale, an inexact analogue is
in AtD.] In Confidence Men, Ron Suskind uses it to describe the 2008 campaign, "What
amazed Obama was how big the whole circus had become, and how fast." [sic].

I find in an article on Apple, 'the retail circus" .

Below is the NYTimes today: 
"Foreclosure Auctions Show Raw Form of Capitalism
16 hours ago ... Foreclosure auctions have grown into a scruffy
economic circus where bargain hunters from around the world have
scooped up houses often sold ...
January 15, 2012 - By KEN BELSON - U.S."

And, to stick the landing, I ran the word 'circus' through Google Trends--
a mapping of use and voila (and interesting, imho)
http://www.google.com/trends/?q=circus&ctab=0

Send in the clowns.