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dnschmidt's review against another edition
5.0
Bogdan's work is one of the most informative books on sideshow history ever published. There are dozens of books on individual performers and events, but Bogdan's book is unique in the way it addresses how the acts were presented. Bogdan states that human oddities were often presented in "the exotic mode" or "the aggrandized mode."
The exotic mode played on the audience’s enthusiasm for foreign, mysterious, unexplored places. The presentation often emphasized the great distance traveled or large expense paid to obtain the performer. Audiences were told that explorers searched the world for talent, hunting in far-off corners of the planet for the rarest, most amazing exhibits the world had to offer. The performers were presented as everything from missing links to wild men raised by wolves.
The aggrandized mode exaggerated the human oddity’s intelligence, skills, and accomplishments. Often, the oddity’s fame would be exaggerated as well. Audiences were told the performer hobnobbed with famous singers and movie stars, and made command performances for kings.
This exploration of the storytelling and theater of sideshow is unique. No other book covers these fascinating details. Absolutely worth a read for anyone interested in the history of the sideshow.
The exotic mode played on the audience’s enthusiasm for foreign, mysterious, unexplored places. The presentation often emphasized the great distance traveled or large expense paid to obtain the performer. Audiences were told that explorers searched the world for talent, hunting in far-off corners of the planet for the rarest, most amazing exhibits the world had to offer. The performers were presented as everything from missing links to wild men raised by wolves.
The aggrandized mode exaggerated the human oddity’s intelligence, skills, and accomplishments. Often, the oddity’s fame would be exaggerated as well. Audiences were told the performer hobnobbed with famous singers and movie stars, and made command performances for kings.
This exploration of the storytelling and theater of sideshow is unique. No other book covers these fascinating details. Absolutely worth a read for anyone interested in the history of the sideshow.
becka6131's review against another edition
3.0
Better than Leslie Fiedler, still pretty dated now though.
proffy's review against another edition
4.0
Robert Bogdan is a Professor of Cultural Foundations of Education and Sociology and the Director of the Social Science Doctoral Program for the Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies at Syracuse University. His book, Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit, looks at the history and practice of the freak show through a social lens.
He directly states his thesis early in the book: "Our reaction to freaks is not a function of some deep-seated fear or some "energy" that they give off; it is, rather the result of our socialization, and of the way our social institutions managed these people's identities. Freak shows are not about isolated individuals...they are about organizations and patterned relationships between them and us. Freak is not a quality that belongs to the person on display. It is something that we created: a perspective, a set of practices - a social construction."
Focusing on the heydey of Freak Shows, 1840-1940, Bogdan covers the history of the presentation of freaks in conjunction with the circus, dime museums, carnivals, world fairs, the amusement industry in general. What interested me most about the history was the transition of freaks from impressive curiosities to diseased dangers to society. Freak shows drew large crowds, were extremely popular attractions, and in many cases, "freaks" settled down into "normal" communities both at retirement and when on break from the show. It wasn't until the early 1900s when doctors claimed freaks as the property of science that people started to find freaks pitiful. Science both demystified their abnormalities and changed their uniqueness into diseases.
The book is not structured chronologically, so information is repeated chapter to chapter, the history, the people, and the theory. Rather than being annoyingly redundant, this repetition actually enhanced the reading experience for me. I feel like I learned more this way.
I will leave you with another restatement of his thesis because I think it is not only an important part of the book, but a very true, very important statement: "How we view people who are different has less to do with what they are physiologically than with who we are culturally."
He directly states his thesis early in the book: "Our reaction to freaks is not a function of some deep-seated fear or some "energy" that they give off; it is, rather the result of our socialization, and of the way our social institutions managed these people's identities. Freak shows are not about isolated individuals...they are about organizations and patterned relationships between them and us. Freak is not a quality that belongs to the person on display. It is something that we created: a perspective, a set of practices - a social construction."
Focusing on the heydey of Freak Shows, 1840-1940, Bogdan covers the history of the presentation of freaks in conjunction with the circus, dime museums, carnivals, world fairs, the amusement industry in general. What interested me most about the history was the transition of freaks from impressive curiosities to diseased dangers to society. Freak shows drew large crowds, were extremely popular attractions, and in many cases, "freaks" settled down into "normal" communities both at retirement and when on break from the show. It wasn't until the early 1900s when doctors claimed freaks as the property of science that people started to find freaks pitiful. Science both demystified their abnormalities and changed their uniqueness into diseases.
The book is not structured chronologically, so information is repeated chapter to chapter, the history, the people, and the theory. Rather than being annoyingly redundant, this repetition actually enhanced the reading experience for me. I feel like I learned more this way.
I will leave you with another restatement of his thesis because I think it is not only an important part of the book, but a very true, very important statement: "How we view people who are different has less to do with what they are physiologically than with who we are culturally."
glitterandtwang's review against another edition
4.0
Occasionally repetitive, but by far the most thorough examination of freak shows I've ever come across.
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