dmturner's review
4.0
An exuberantly written account of the men who ran every manner of circus in the United States. It conveys an image of a time very different from ours, in which the arrival of the circus was an apparition from an alien world. The proprietors of those spectacles were remarkable oddities who seemed to flourish in conditions of danger, uncertainty, and thousands of moving parts.
I remember seeing the tiny Cole Brothers Circus when it was near my home, so I suppose I have one tie to that past.
I remember seeing the tiny Cole Brothers Circus when it was near my home, so I suppose I have one tie to that past.
jeremyanderberg's review
3.0
After watching The Greatest Showman with my kids for the millionth time, I figured it was time to get some of the real history of the circus industry in America. I enjoy Standiford, and it was certainly good enough, but I liked his other books better for some reason. Given the scope of time it covers and the various characters, I think he just went too broad and there wasn't quite enough of a through-line narrative to keep the pages turning very quickly. Again, still good, but I had higher hopes.
kairosdreaming's review
5.0
*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's Copy from NetGalley.
Historical fiction can be hit or miss sometimes, even if the subject matter is especially interesting. I'm happy to say that this one is a hit for me. About the major players in the circus and the historical origination, there was enough entertainment and information here to satisfy just about anyone.
In this book, the origins of the circus are briefly explored and then the real meat of it begins; Barnum, Bailey, and the Ringling Brothers. The reader is taken through how each circus leader got their start and the many iterations, buyouts, competition, etc. each is faced with. It came as a surprise to me that ultimately, all of these shows were under the same ownership, despite having distinctive names and seemingly in 'competition' with each other. Which is not to say they weren't ever in competition, but I didn't realize how far back that actually was.
Each of the narratives is interesting, has poignant facts, and little known history about each circus. It definitely wasn't the dry history that you can sometimes get that is all fact but not engaging. I devoured this book pretty quickly as it was an enjoyable read while still being informative. And since the circus is a subject that holds many people's hearts and imaginations, it was relieving to see it covered in such an expansive way.
If you like the circus and are interested in its history, this is definitely the book for you!
Review by M. Reynard 2021
Historical fiction can be hit or miss sometimes, even if the subject matter is especially interesting. I'm happy to say that this one is a hit for me. About the major players in the circus and the historical origination, there was enough entertainment and information here to satisfy just about anyone.
In this book, the origins of the circus are briefly explored and then the real meat of it begins; Barnum, Bailey, and the Ringling Brothers. The reader is taken through how each circus leader got their start and the many iterations, buyouts, competition, etc. each is faced with. It came as a surprise to me that ultimately, all of these shows were under the same ownership, despite having distinctive names and seemingly in 'competition' with each other. Which is not to say they weren't ever in competition, but I didn't realize how far back that actually was.
Each of the narratives is interesting, has poignant facts, and little known history about each circus. It definitely wasn't the dry history that you can sometimes get that is all fact but not engaging. I devoured this book pretty quickly as it was an enjoyable read while still being informative. And since the circus is a subject that holds many people's hearts and imaginations, it was relieving to see it covered in such an expansive way.
If you like the circus and are interested in its history, this is definitely the book for you!
Review by M. Reynard 2021
filemanager's review
DNF @ 21% - I had to abandon this book at 21% and here is why. First of all, there was a lot of circus history, which was awesome. BUT the big things for me were:
1) I'm 1/5th of the way in, and the three big names have barely been mentioned. I just finished reading about James Bailey, but there were only mere mentions of P.T. Barnum and John Ringling so far.
2) The very clinical and monotone writing style just didn't keep my interest.
3) There's a lot of USA-specific history, and I'm Canadian so I just don't care much about US history.
4) This book wasn't what I thought it would be, it was a lot of history and facts, and I thought it would be more about Barnum, Bailey and Ringling, and how they were competing in the circus industry. It's of course important to know the history of it all, but I'm just not a history buff and I'd much rather have gotten a quick introduction to how the concept of a circus got started, how they travelled, things they endured, then move right into the 3 main "Ringmasters" and more stuff about them.
I did find the history about the animals, and how the circuses had to travel, and how they setup interesting, so I may come back to this in the future and try to continue it.
1) I'm 1/5th of the way in, and the three big names have barely been mentioned. I just finished reading about James Bailey, but there were only mere mentions of P.T. Barnum and John Ringling so far.
2) The very clinical and monotone writing style just didn't keep my interest.
3) There's a lot of USA-specific history, and I'm Canadian so I just don't care much about US history.
4) This book wasn't what I thought it would be, it was a lot of history and facts, and I thought it would be more about Barnum, Bailey and Ringling, and how they were competing in the circus industry. It's of course important to know the history of it all, but I'm just not a history buff and I'd much rather have gotten a quick introduction to how the concept of a circus got started, how they travelled, things they endured, then move right into the 3 main "Ringmasters" and more stuff about them.
I did find the history about the animals, and how the circuses had to travel, and how they setup interesting, so I may come back to this in the future and try to continue it.
bejouled's review
1.0
Overall, this is actually a very good book - informative an interesting. I wanted to give it 4 or 5 stars.
But. Then I got to the chapter about how PT Barnum purchased a "160-year old" slave, Joice Heth, to act as his first exhibit.
This chapter could have been written in a way that acknowledged what happened without condoning it. It wasn't. At every opportunity, the author went out of his way to soften and excuse the fact that Barnum purchased a human being to use as a showpiece. He claims that while Barnum "in essence" participated in the slave industry (there's no essence about it!), this is really just a twenty-first century view, and Heth considered herself a performer, and Barnum her manager. Not that Barnum paid her or anything. He owned her.
He also said that when Barnum first heard about Heth, he knew he had to go see such a fascinating "creature." When Heth died, Barnum has a surgeon perform an autopsy to discover how old she actually was. No acknowledgement of the fact that, unless Heth expressly allowed it ahead of time, this was a gross violation and another example of Barnum treating her like an object. The author also includes a "funny" anecdote about one of Barnum's associates claiming that Heth was still alive, and they had just stolen another Black lady's corpse to do an autopsy on. But that was just a "practical joke" played on the newspaper.
If they ever come out with an edition of this book where this chapter is edited to talk about Black people like people, then I might give it more stars, because like I said, the rest of the book is fascinating. I wondered whether I should give some credit in my rating for that, but ultimately decided that if an author talked about Jews (like me) the way this author talked about Black people, I would be horrified if people rated it highly because they could ignore the anti-Semitism. And so likewise, I cannot ignore the racism here.
But. Then I got to the chapter about how PT Barnum purchased a "160-year old" slave, Joice Heth, to act as his first exhibit.
This chapter could have been written in a way that acknowledged what happened without condoning it. It wasn't. At every opportunity, the author went out of his way to soften and excuse the fact that Barnum purchased a human being to use as a showpiece. He claims that while Barnum "in essence" participated in the slave industry (there's no essence about it!), this is really just a twenty-first century view, and Heth considered herself a performer, and Barnum her manager. Not that Barnum paid her or anything. He owned her.
He also said that when Barnum first heard about Heth, he knew he had to go see such a fascinating "creature." When Heth died, Barnum has a surgeon perform an autopsy to discover how old she actually was. No acknowledgement of the fact that, unless Heth expressly allowed it ahead of time, this was a gross violation and another example of Barnum treating her like an object. The author also includes a "funny" anecdote about one of Barnum's associates claiming that Heth was still alive, and they had just stolen another Black lady's corpse to do an autopsy on. But that was just a "practical joke" played on the newspaper.
If they ever come out with an edition of this book where this chapter is edited to talk about Black people like people, then I might give it more stars, because like I said, the rest of the book is fascinating. I wondered whether I should give some credit in my rating for that, but ultimately decided that if an author talked about Jews (like me) the way this author talked about Black people, I would be horrified if people rated it highly because they could ignore the anti-Semitism. And so likewise, I cannot ignore the racism here.
mbt1963's review
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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