Customer Reviews:
Authenticity in Kelty's Photographs.......2006-08-04
As the son of a former circus (Ringling Brothers, Al G. Barnes, et al) employee who has a Kelty photograph of his father in a circus from 1936, who himself took photos during his time in the circus, I found the Kelty photographs captured much of the same ambience as in my father's pictures. In other words, authenticity and poignancy.
A must have for circus fans.......2006-04-07
If you wish you could go back in time to golden age of the circus (as I do), this book will at least make you feel a little closer. Kelty's photos are awesome considering the technology of the day and the prints look amazing!
Interesting.......2004-03-28
Though this is a large book, you will probably finish reading it in one evening. The only text is a breezy 34 page introduction, with accompanying pictures. The rest of the book is mostly full-page pictures with very minimal captions. At least half the time, the captions are no more than what is already written on the original picture - it makes me think that the authors (presumably Barth & Siegel, though there is no text by them, the introduction was written by Edward Hoagland) were told that a published book has to caption the pictures, so they did the minimum amount of work necessary. For the pictures without information written on them, the captions consist of a year and a location, circus or performance house...very minimal!
Though the introduction is a very nice read, it has no depth and skips all over the place, to wherever Mr. Hoagland thought to go next. It talks a little about some of the pictures, a little about Mr. Kelty, the circuses, the times and the challenges faced. This leaves the reader to look at the pictures and take them for face value, just like the people who came to the circus in the 30's. We have no background information, no introduction, and no inside information - all we can do is "stare at the freaks". I believe that is really the point of the book. Though I have no first-person reference, as the advertisement in the Introduction says:
"We have the fattest women in the world, and the tallest man, and a girl who has no arms or legs, and midgets who are married! Have you ever seen a camel spit, or seals play catch, or elephants stand on their heads? A man with reptile scales who was once just like you! And the Good Lord made him. Can you finish your ice cream after you have looked at him?"...Good question!
Looking at these pictures, I get an appreciation for the time and people. Cameras are new, and each picture is clearly an "Event". There are people who are very disturbing, some who are merely trying to disturb you, and others who just don't give a damn. Some of the people are no more weird than what you would find in any large city, others seem clearly different. Through the pictures, I get an appreciation for the packaging of weirdness.
Though you could peruse the pictures quickly, and laugh like the people who originally went to the circus; I was left with questions about what these pictures say about these people, and about the people who watched them. What do these pictures say about America, back then and today? This book has provided food for thought for me. I am divided on whether I wanted more of the back-story, or if the pictures tell their own story. No book can be everything so, since I am still thinking about these pictures, for me the book was a success. For people who want to know more, this book would make a good accompaniment to a more scholarly work.
Photography gets an A, Copy gets a C.......2003-01-03
Although it is fascinating seeing the photographs of Edward Kelty, the author of the book has done nothing to contribute to the knowledge to be gained here. Surprisingly, the captions list nothing except the words that are printed on the photographs themselves. Here you have some of the most amazing "Special People" of all times, and none of them are identified unless it was written on the photo. It is not a mystery who most of these people were if the author had bothered to ask any of the wonderful resources he cites. I have only read one other book (out of print)- "Very Special People" and many of them are identifiable from that book alone.
Edward Hoagland's intro is also a disappointment. Although he says he spent some time working in the world portrayed, I find it hard to believe that all the people therein were either pedophiles, itinerants and other seedy stereotypes to which he alludes. Many were lovely, talented people who overcame incredible hardship and handicaps and had optimistic and positive outlooks beyond belief.
What this book needs are carefully researched captions and an index - perhaps someone truly familiar with the subject will write one. As interesting as the photos are, the book shows a lack of respect for the photographer and the people he photographed.
Book Description
"The release of
Freakery is as much a comment on modern academia as it is an intriguing exploration of the enduring fascination with the construction and presentation of those "who have been coarsely categorized as 'freaks,' 'curiosities', prodigies' and 'monstrosities.'"—Ethnologies
Giants. Midgets. Tribal non-Westerners. The very fat. The very thin. Hermaphrodites. Conjoined twins. The disabled. The very hirsute. In American history, all have shared the platform equally, as freaks, human oddities, their only commonality their assigned role of anomalous other to the gathered throngs. For the price of a ticket, freak shows offered spectators an icon of bodily otherness whose difference from them secured their own membership in a common American identity--by comparison ordinary, tractable, normal.
Rosemarie Thomson's groundbreaking anthology probes America's disposition toward the visually different. The book's essays fall into four main categories: historical explorations of American freak shows in the era of P.T. Barnum; the articulation of the freak in literary and textual discourses; contemporary relocations of freak shows; and theoretical analyses of freak culture. Essays address such diverse topics as American colonialism and public presentations of natives; laughing gas demonstrations in the 1840's; Shirley Temple and Tom Thumb; Todd Browning's landmark movie Freaks; bodybuilders as postmodern freaks; freaks in Star Trek; Michael Jackson's identification with the Elephant Man; and the modern talk show as a reconfiguration of the freak show. In her introduction, Thomson traces the freak show from antiquity to the modern period and explores the constitutive, political, and textual properties of such exhibits.
Freakeryis a fresh, insightful exploration of a heretofore neglected aspect of American mass culture.
Book Description
A fascinating look into the history of the American sideshow and its performers. Learn what's real, what's fake, and what's just downright bizarre.
You've probably heard of Tom Thumb. The Elephant Man. Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins. But what about Eli Bowen, the legless acrobat? Myrtle Corbin, the four-legged woman? Or Prince Randian, the human torso? All these and more were stars during the heyday of the American sideshow, from 1840 to 1950. American Sideshow chronicles the lives of truly amazing performers, examining these brave and extraordinary curiosities, not just as sideshow attractions, but as people, delving into the lives they led and how they were able to triumph over their abnormalities.
American Sideshow discusses the rise and fall of the original sideshows and their subsequent replacement by today's self-made freaks. With the progress of modern medicine, the physical abnormalities are disappearing, either through treatment or prevention; and, ironically, those same technological advancements now make it possible to change our bodies at will. It's amazing how easy it is to have your tongue forked, horns surgically implanted, or your earlobes removed. There are also modern-day giants, fire-eaters, fire-breathers, sword-swallowers, glass-eaters, human blockheads, and, oh, so much more.
These fascinating personalities are celebrated through intimate biographies paired with stunning photographs. Approximately 200 performers from the past 160 years are featured, giving readers a comprehensive and sometimes astonishing view of the history of the American sideshow.
Customer Reviews:
Go ahead and STARE!.......2007-08-28
In the Old days the "freaks" didn't have the talk show circuit, they had very few options given to them to make money. If you were born deformed you could either shut yourself up in your house, or join the circus. Back then there wasn't any political correctness, if you had giant growths on your face you were "the ugliest woman", if you weighed over 400 pounds you were the "jolliest fattest person alive" It was all about exploiting your abnormalities to the fullest. It is human nature to be curious about those among us that are different, even shocking in appearance. We try not to stare in public, so when these shows came around it was our opportunity to get an eyeful and not feel guilty. Many times these performers were sold as children by their parents, because it was good money and it got rid of the burden the sideshows became permanent homes for the "orphans". These days disorders and diseases like gigantism, Ichthyosis (alligator skin), even conjoined twins have treatments or solutions for recovery. A lot of the thalidomide babies are grown up and have moved onto normal lives, dwarfism has its own community and they want to be seen as more than an oddity.
This book gives us a rare insight to all the people, big or small, who put themselves on display for entertainment purposes. It's laid out in a certain timeline, with each performer getting a mini biography and a picture; it was fascinating to learn about their origins and what happened to them after the sideshow life. I thought it was interesting that men who were cross dressers were billed as hermaphrodites dressing up one half man one half women, and males who had parasitic twins were made to have that "twin" a female no matter what. Many owners hyped up their performers, blatantly lying to the public to give them more of an exotic feel. Two albino black men with dreadlocks were Albanian goat men. Even a famous "Chinese" dwarf, was rumored to be a Jewish guy dressed up.
The book is really informative; I was glued to it for days. The only thing I have to complain about has nothing to do with the book itself, but rather the state of "sideshows" today. Now it's mostly about "Human Marvels" or "self made freaks" and less about physical deformities. The Modern section was FULL of tattooed, sword swallowing, pierced, bug eaters. To me that's just not entertaining, if you go and choose to become a "freak" I really don't care about seeing you. I went and saw the Jim Rose Circus when it came through town in the early 90's, and I wasn't impressed by what I saw.
Good book.......2007-06-17
There were some good information and some pictures in this book, however, I felt they covered so many performers that there wasn't enough information about those who were covered. Still a good read.
Absolutely Fabulous & Entertaining!.......2007-05-25
"The dazzling real lives of the bearded ladies, the dog faced boys, the camel girl, the lobster boy, the frog boy, the lizard man and all the other strange carnival and sideshow performers."
American Sideshow.......2006-10-10
Great sideshow book!
This book covers more performers and has more photos than any of my
other sideshow books. Hartzman shows us who these performers are, not
just as freaks, but as people. He gets into their lives, their loves,
and their triumphs. Light humor and a casual style make the book very
readable and enjoyable. Turn to any page and you'll read something
amazing - something to tell people at work about the next day.
I read another reviewer's comment below who said Hartzman stated
too many sideshow claims as fact, but he clearly stated in the
beginning of the book that giants' and midgets' heights, fat peoples'
weights, and other "facts" were often exaggerated. This way he didn't
have to say it every time he mentions a height or weight, which
would've gotten repetitive. This reviewer also wished he cited his
sources, which he clearly did in his bibliography.
Get this book! It's American history at its most fascinating.
Compelling encyclopedia of fascinating people, more context would have been great.......2006-07-11
This book makes fascinating reading. It's mainly done in an encyclopedia style, with entries for many, many people who chose to exhibit their unusual features or talents. The author obviously feel strongly that they have a right to do so, and shows much caring and respect for them. I really liked how he followed their lives all the way through if he could find the information, so they were presented as people and not just shows.
However, I would have really liked a little more context with the listing---more information about sideshows in general and more perspective on the listings. I did like the sidebars here and there, but it would have been great to read more about life in general for all the performers--what it was like to travel with a sideshow, what the people watching the shows acted like, etc.
I also found the humor inserted in almost every listing a little forced, and not in keeping with the general respectful tone of the book. There were lots of little puns and silly jokes, which didn't add much and were a distraction.
I found the last section of the book, about present day shows and performers, to not really fit with the rest of the book. These performers almost all just do odd and bizarre things, as opposed to having odd and bizarre things thrust upon them. I think it's a very different thing to CHOOSE to be odd and bizarre as opposed to making the best of a life where you already are.
It sounds like I liked this book much less than I did. I really did find it an interesting and caring survey of a group of people political correctness often prefers not to talk about. It's ironic that this same attitude probably keeps many people on public assistance, instead of making them extremely rich as many of these performers became!
Book Description
This is the astonishing account of America's secret and illegal war against Cambodia from 1969 to 1973.
Customer Reviews:
A must-read book to get to know this tiny country -and its powerful American "ally's"- behind-the-scenes relationships.......2007-07-02
I was living in Cambodia when I came across this book, following the recommendation of one of my English friends. I bought the book, opened it... and could no longer put it down! This book came as a complete eye-opener to me, on both how America had conducted its war across Indochina, but also on how Cambodia's history had/has been so intimately intermixed with Sihanouk's.
If you are into learning the backside of what we could all dub "official history", then this book's for you. You will no longer look at Kissinger, Nixon or Westmoreland with the same candid, obedient and servile eyes after reading it. Packed with previously unheard-of accounts, reports, testimonies, following a clean, highly intelligent argumentation methodology, Sideshow acts as a real bulldozer on the reader, repeatedly confronting him/her with loads of devastating illustrations of unsound decisions, hidden political actions, secret wars of influences etc. It is certainly one of the punchiest, journalism-based historical account I have ever read, whatever the subject.
It shed a completely new and intense light onto the poor -though touching- little country I was living in then, and forever changed the way I looked at politics, diplomacy and intelligence.
Essential.......2006-09-16
This book has managed to live on, which is perhaps unfortunate - historically speaking, it's far more relevant to contemporary geopolitics than it should be.
In any case, SIDESHOW has managed to stand as one of the better books on Cambodia, and America's involvement in Cambodia (Elizabeth Becker's WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER is a must-read as well). One could debate Shawcross' perspectives, but his research is meticulous and has withstood many attacks, and his depiction of the machiavellian darkness that can creep into foreign policy is chilling and ruthless, and - for better of worse - makes for hypnotic reading, all the more frightening as it's drawn straight from history, research, the Freedom of Information act.
Now more than ever, this is essential reading.
-David Alston
Congress was so much better then than now.......2006-01-16
On Junior Day, 2006, I would recommend SIDESHOW by William Shawcross. It contains information about the twentieth century that could be applied to situations that America faces in the world in 2006. The global superpower naturally thinks that everything will be resolved by the application of hyperpower, as Japan suffered a humiliating defeat at the end of World War II when it discovered that the United States was not just fighting a war against Japan, it would nuke their cities to bring about whatever result it wanted. When American troops openly invaded parts of Cambodia, Congress responded by imposing limits which were still in place on April 30, 1973:
"The justification for bombing Cambodia had been to protect Americans in Vietnam. Since October 1970 the Congress had included in every military appropriation bill a proviso expressly forbidding bombing in Cambodia except for that purpose. By the end of March 1973 there were no American troops left in Indochina. Still the bombing of Cambodia increased. The administration now based its case on Article 20 of the Paris Agreement. Rogers now claimed that American withdrawal from Vietnam did not affect the situation in Cambodia, and that Article 20 legalized the bombing `until such time as a ceasefire could be brought into effect.' " (p. 277).
One of the strange things about the invasion of Cambodia was that Nixon made an announcement on April 30, 1970 which attempted to keep all previous secret activities secret:
Ignoring Menu, Nixon began with the lie that the United States had "scrupulously respected" Cambodia's neutrality for the last five years and had not "moved against" the sanctuaries. This falsehood was repeated by Kissinger in his background briefings to the press. That same evening he told reporters that the Communists had been using Cambodia for five years but, "As long as Sihanouk was in power in Cambodia we had to weigh the benefits in long-range historical terms of Cambodian neutrality as against any temporary military advantages and we made no efforts during the first fifteen months of this administration to move against the sanctuary." The next day he said of Sihanouk's rule, "We had no incentive to change it. We made no effort to change it. We were surprised by the development. One reason why we showed such great restraint against the base areas was in order not to change this situation." (p. 146).
In his announcement of the invasion, Nixon stated that his action was taken "not for the purpose of expanding the war into Cambodia, but for the purpose of ending the war in Vietnam"; he would give aid to Cambodia, but only to enable it "to defend its neutrality and not for the purpose of making it an active belligerent on one side or the other." (p. 146).
Currently Iran has a militia of five million, and if Iran were to officially enter a war in Iraq as a result of bombings by Israel, as urged by Vice President Cheney, to remove Iran's nuclear capabilities, even if a bomb based on plans provided by the CIA wouldn't work, Iran has other ways it could strike back. Being subatomic is very much like Cambodia was in 1970, but we shall soon see what issues are about to be submitted to the UN security council, and if it helps or hurts. A blockade created by Iran so American supplies might have more trouble reaching Kuwait and Iraq; oil exports from the region could end; American dollars could fall; the interest on bonds could rise so high that the U.S. government couldn't balance a budget; and some of the world's banks might then be alarmed.
SIDESHOW by William Shawcross is the only book I have in which I can look up Lon Nil in the index. Lon Nil might well be Cambodia's forgotten man. His brother, Lon Nol, declared himself Chief of State as well as Prime Minister and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces when he dissolved the Assembly in October 1971 and assumed emergency rule. (p. 229). In December 1971, an American psychiatrist in the U.S. Army found "his close associates indicate his mental faculties have deteriorated markedly as a result of his February 1971 stroke" (p. 208). On April 1, 1975, at the urging of his brother Lon Non, Lon Nol took half a million dollars and moved to Hawaii. (pp. 357-358). But for me, the best picture of events in Cambodia is the final page of Chapter 8, The Coup, in March 1970, when Lon Nol overthrew Sihanouk, using the hostility of the urban elite and military officers to Sihanouk to justify a power grab by a former Minister of Defense who "had been the principal scourge of the Vietnamese Communists while privately profiting from the thriving covert business that they brought through Sihanoukville." (p. 113). Sihanouk responded by forming a government recognized by Peking on May 5, 1970, shortly after the American invasion announced by Nixon. Sihanouk had flown from Moscow to China on March 18, 1970, but Lon Nil was still in Cambodia:
Rioting broke out in several provinces; opposition was strongest in the market town of Kompong Cham, Cambodia's second city, fifty miles northeast of Phnom Penh. After Sihanouk's radio broadcast, the town filled with peasants, fishermen and rice farmers from the neighborhood. The townspeople refused the government's orders to remove the Prince's portrait, and they burned down the house of the new governor whom Lon Nol had appointed. Demonstrators gathered in buses and trucks to march on Phnom Penh. They were halted by an army roadblock, and after that . . . About ninety people were killed or wounded. (pp. 126-127).
The most vivid display of anger against Lon Nol occurred, again in Kompong Cham, when peasants seized his brother Lon Nil, killed him and tore his liver from his stomach. The trophy was taken into a Chinese restaurant, where the owner was ordered to cook and slice it. Morsels were handed to everyone in the streets around. (p. 127).
History to be reviewed over and over again.......2005-05-30
Shawcross gets into the minds of Kissinger and Nixon so well. His is a book to be read over and over again to see the working of the U.S. Government and how it can destroy a country. He talks about the 25 pound shark at the bottom of a swimming pool full of children -- and we understand how the USA's leaders destroyed a country. It is a lesson to be learned over and over again as we go about destroying other countries. This is one great read - worthy of the time it takes to understand it. A victory for the author over Mr. Kissinger.
The Madman Theory of War.......2005-02-17
Really bad decisions made by the Nixon administration toward Indochina and the Vietnam War are now fairly obvious. However, we must remember how difficult this type of investigation would have been back when Shawcross did his intensive research back in the late 70s. Here Shawcross builds a very hard-to-dismiss case against Nixon and Henry Kissinger, in terms of how their problematic military and diplomatic strategies at least indirectly led to the hideous destruction of Cambodia (in fact, one of Nixon's documented strategies was to make the Communists think he was a madman, assuming they'd get scared and give up).
During the earlier years of the war, Cambodia was a relatively tranquil nation that was trying to remain neutral. But the country was being used as a hideout by North Vietnamese soldiers, leading to bombing by the Americans. Here Shawcross shows how Nixon and Kissinger made use of political trickery and overhyped threats to keep the bombing going to an extent that was far more destructive than necessary. As a bonus, this book also documents the wire-tapping paranoia and unconstitutional shenanigans in the Nixon White House. Shawcross is especially tough on Kissinger, finding that he disregarded the integrity and safety of Cambodia (which he had only ever visited for four hours), in favor of short-term political advantages and unyielding ideology. The relentless bombing destabilized Cambodian society, leading indirectly to the hideous genocide and societal destruction enacted by the Khmer Rouge a few years later. It is difficult to argue with Shawcross' heavily researched conclusions, and the hellish wholesale collapse of Cambodia (of a type never before seen in modern history) becomes all the more poignant as a result.
Be sure to get an edition of this book from 1986 or after, in which Shawcross adds materials from the political firefight that the book ignited. Kissinger was obviously upset and went to great lengths, through articles written by his lackey Peter Rodman, to try and disprove Shawcross' assertions. If your copy of this book contains these articles, you'll be quite bemused by Rodman's evasive, dissembling, and downright condescending rebuttal attempts, which are easily shot down by Shawcross. This war of words in itself proves that Kissinger had, and always will have, a lot to answer for. [~doomsdayer520~]
Average customer rating:
- Great for undergrad students to read as an example of how not to write a book and conduct research
- Informative on Italian Partisans
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Sideshow War: The Italian Campaign, 1943-1945 (Texas a & M University Military History Series)
George F. Botjer
Manufacturer: Texas A&M University Press
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War in Italy 1943-1945: A Brutal Story
ASIN: 0890967180 |
Customer Reviews:
Great for undergrad students to read as an example of how not to write a book and conduct research.......2006-07-27
While this book may be interesting to the history buff I caution all seriously wanting to learn the history of WWII and the campaign in Italy: BEWARE!!! It isn't as though author Botjer does not have good style. On the contrary. However, there are minor inacuracies in basic historical facts, the research that was done is sub-par, and it is quite out of date. There are more recent compilations on the Italian Campaign that are more thorough than this. As an academic work it is unnotable. This was written as a high school report, there was nothing new. Also, the research of primary sources was severely lacking, and the secondary sources were not much better. Overall, as a historian Botjet should have utilized more resources and done a better job writing a history on these campaigns.
Informative on Italian Partisans.......1999-04-10
This book gives a general overview of the Allied campaign in Italy from the invasion of Sicily to the end of the war in the Po valley. It focuses more on the Italian Partisans and their role in both the poltics and military action of the time. It is somewhat rambling, but the information contained is worth the effort, especially for those who are either interested in the Italian front specifically, or in an in-depth view of the entire Second World War.
Book Description
On small-town ballfields and county fairgrounds, the sideshow performers set up their tents and trailers in the shadow of the Ferris wheel. There they amazed us with daring feats such as fire eating and sword swallowing, intrigued us with exhibitions of human oddities and various "anatomical wonders," and yes, deceived us with illusions such as "Atasha the Gorilla Girl" and even outright fakes.
These bizarre spectacles engaged the mind as well as the eye. Was the human blockhead act, in which the performer pounded a large nail or ice pick into his nostril, real or fake? Was the so-called alligator boy genuine or a "gaffed" oddity, painted with glue to produce a scaly simulation of reptilian skin? While the sideshows have now all but vanished from the American landscape, they leave a fascinating legacy of romance and mystery. Many of their secrets remain, only grudgingly given up, if at all, by aging showmen and "bally talkers."
Joe Nickell—once a carnival pitchman, then a magician, a private detective, and an investigative writer—has pursued sideshow secrets for years. He has interviewed the showmen and performers, collected carnival memorabilia, researched the published literature, and even performed some classic sideshow feats, such as eating fire and lying on a bed of nails while a cinderblock was broken on his chest.
Secrets of the Sideshows reveals the specific methods and tricks behind the performances, the showmen's tactics for recruiting performers and attracting crowds, and more. Nickell also examines the behind-the-scenes secrets of sideshow life, including details of the remarkable personal lives of those men and women billed as "freaks."
Customer Reviews:
secrets of the sideshows.......2007-07-24
Well, what I have recently purchased is a very interesting book. It unveils a rather dark and unknown world that for centuries has been with us. The pictures are fine but scarce, and the prose has wit and many secrets of the trade are rather amusing. In fact a very fine book
Nothing paranormal for a change.......2005-11-30
Joe Nickell's latest is quite different to other books published by him during the last few years. It's not really an investigative book and it doesn't discuss anything paranormal or unexplainable, and also, the entire books feels more like a pursuit of a personal hobby than the critical examination usually delivered by Nickell's sharp pen. However, in no way does this mean it's not worth reading, just because it happens to be more personal and relaxed than his other works. Quite the opposite, actually. Secrets of the Sideshows is an exciting experience of the mostly American phenomenon of carnys, sideshows, freaks, and carnivals.
It's not easy to find fitting translations to the above terms, and no American-style sideshows have ever made it big in Sweden. But it's still very possible to enjoy the book, even though one happens to be Swedish.
History is filled with numerous examples of strange people having displayed strange abilities, exotic animals from far-away countries have always fascinated the audience, and the grotesque, different, and sometimes flat out revolting have always been sure to make people curious. During the latter half of the 19th century traveling sideshows and carnivals started gaining more and more popularity, and the circuses of today can be considered to be the descendants of these productions. Nickell - who himself used to be a carny - paints a fascinating portrait of these pioneers of an odd business concept, and he makes it very clear to the reader that people throughout all of history, including contemporary man of course, have been exploited by shrewd entrepreneurs who have been quick to realize how to make big money from letting people witness what they have a problem comprehending.
However, the main focus of the book is on the people, animals, or objects that were exhibited. Giants, midgets, fat people, snake women, Guerilla Girl, "human skeletons", Frog Boy, fire eaters, bearded ladies, normal-looking people with not-so normal abilities, and many, many more are discussed, often accompanied by photographs from Nickell's personal collection. Cows with five legs, infants with two heads, alleged mermaids, Bigfoot and other weird are mentioned also. Nickell isn't afraid to expose how many of the magical acts were done, and he's also not afraid to expose how many of the faked oddities were manufactured (for instance, it was possible to make a "mermaid" using the upper body of an ape and the lower half of a fish). But still Nickell is keen not to neither romanticize nor ridicule anything. It's a fascinating study - or rather exploration - of both human behavior and strange individuals, and these days when the days of glory for the sideshows are all but gone the book becomes an important documentation of the strangest of all creatures: the human being.
(But on page 201, Nickell makes a major blunder when he refers to Anton LaVey, the founder of the first openly satanic movement, Church of Satan, as a "Satanist" in quotation marks. I've never encountered this spelling before, and I honestly would never have thought a learned man such as Joe Nickell would make such a strange mistake.)
The Gifted, The Grifted, The Grafted & The Gaffed .......2005-11-12
Joe Nickell's Secrets of the Sideshows (2005) presents its audience with an adequate but lackluster overview of its subject. The volume suffers from two problems. The first, and more significant, is that most of the material included has long been available elsewhere, as Nickell's numerous references to a variety of other works makes clear. The second is that, despite the author's long employment history as a carnival hand in an apparent variety of capacities, his writing style is so perfunctory that he manages to make what should be a fascinating subject seem quite dull. Therefore, the best audience for the book will be readers with a budding interest in the subject; those already conversant on the topic are unlikely to learn anything new.
Nickell, who is also a "senior research fellow" of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is honest, upfront, and unapologetic about the tone and moral tenor of most sideshow and midway personnel, who routinely, though not exclusively, defraud their thrill-seeking public in any number of ways. The author quotes a "carnival owner" as saying, "You have all the ingredients necessary to rise in your profession-a deceptively honest face, a genius for legitimate fraud, no conscience, a golden tongue, and a feeling that a quarter in somebody else's pocket is a personal rebuke." Interestingly, Nickell seems to find this sociopathic approach to life, commerce, and human relationships fully acceptable, and perhaps even inevitable. As a result, readers may come away with the impression that all or most people associated with carnival work are con men and passive aggressive bottom-feeders who would rather attempt to trick another man out of his money than work honestly to earn their own. Nickell quotes another showman, whom he believes he has caught "in a particularly cynical moment": "On my tombstone, you know what they're going to write? 'Screw you. I got your dollar.'"
Needless to say, few of the 'secrets of the sideshow,' outside of the authentic 'human oddities' and performers with a genuine skill are very fascinating: the rubber aliens, faked two-headed geese, 'giant rats,' 'jackelopes,' false 'psychics,' 'headless girls,' and enormous 'spiders' with human heads are as absurd, tawdry, and patently obvious as one would expect.
It's worth speculating whether Nickell, who has become a ubiquitous debunking presence on the National Geographic Channel and the History Channel, believes all "claims of the paranormal" are either honest mistakes of perception or outright hoaxes, however subtly accomplished, because he himself has been, via his carnival work, so experienced in promoting, selling, and by default, perpetrating hoaxes himself.
A walk down the Midway.......2005-11-09
Joe Nickell's latest book, Secrets of the Sideshow is a thoroughly researched tome that is worth the cover price for the pictures alone.
The cover effectively uses a 'banner art' style with 'Frog Boy' charmingly gracing the spine. The title is a little misleading, it is not a revelatory guide or 'masked magician' type of book at all. More of a scholarly attempt to document a lost part of American theatre. Mr. Nickell's previous works were largely concerned with his role as editor of the Skeptical Enquirer. So deal with the Shroud of Turin, Bigfoot etc. Not having read any of those I cannot comment, but suffice to say that this history of bringing a scientific mind to apparent miracles may have impacted the choice of title. What is apparent is that he has a real love of this subject. He has worked the midway at various fairs as a magician and obviously the carnival world got into his blood. Relying heavily on interviews with carnival legends Ward Hall, Chris Christ and Bobby Reynolds the author details the history of this unique piece of Americana. Bobby Reynold's contributions are fairly ascerbic with a certain bitterness when compared to Ward Hall's more agreeable approach. No attempt appears to have been made to edit any of these contributions. There are copious references to other works, Ricky Jay, Daniel Mannix and Al Stencell are quoted liberally and these authors works would make excellent companion reads.
As one goes through the book the reader does learn how effects are achieved, the use of gaffs, fakery and general deception are discussed. However, this remains a secondary facet of this work. It is much more of a historical encyclopedia and includes a thorough list of references and detailed index. Overshadowing the mechanical 'How To' aspects of the book are the wonderful characters that one meets within its pages. Poobah the fire eating dwarf, Percilla the monkey girl, Doug Higley phantom of the midway and purveyor of Area 51 artifacts. [Of course they are real]. And numerous other fascinating people who often show more grace and dignity than the so called 'normal' specimens of the human family.
The writing style is a mixture of academic investigation and whimsical fan. Despite his natural instincts for scientific rigor the author's joy in the subject and obvious sadness at the demise of the sideshow shine through.
It ends on a positive and up to date note with a piece on the sideshow school at Coney Island, one of the last bastions of the traditional arts.
I reccomend this book to anyone whoever thought about running away to the circus and I enjoyed reading it tremendously.
PS. One small piece of pedantry. On page 214, Joe Nickell decribes the turn of the century magician Chung Ling Soo as an 'Englishman pretending to be a Chinaman'. In his excellent biography of Chung Ling Soo, The Glorious Deception, Jim Steinmeyer details Soo's life as an American who often pretended to be an Englishman, or more commonly a Scotsman pretending to be a Chinaman. Which goes to show that even a skeptical investigator can be confounded by a fellow conjurer, from beyond the grave to boot! My sense is that Mr. Nickell would be delighted.
Hurry, Hurry! Step Right This Way!.......2005-08-20
For centuries, millions of people have enjoyed looking at commercial exhibits of the odd and curious. Joe Nickell is one of those people. Growing up in Kentucky, he never missed the carnivals and circuses that had human and animal oddities on display as sideshows. Nickell is well known for investigating frauds and hoaxes for the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, but it doesn't matter to him that many sideshow acts were bogus or at least grossly exaggerated on the banners outside the shows. He obviously loves the now-disappearing shows, and in _Secrets of the Sideshows_ (University Press of Kentucky), that affection is made plain. To be sure, he gives plenty of secrets away here, most of them open secrets, but the book works best as a tribute to the imagination of the performers and organizers of the exhibits which were meant to provoke and satisfy that admirable old human characteristic, curiosity. The book provokes and satisfies in the same way.
Nickell notes that "sideshow" means an adjunct to the main show. The "midway" where these shows were located was midway between the entrance and the main attraction. He briefly recounts early history, and then goes into their heyday starting in the early 1900s. Sideshows featured magic performances, often with one big trick like sawing the woman in half or the escape from a chained box. The way these sorts of tricks are done is explained here, but the explanations would not ruin the fun of a good performance. Fire-eating and sword-swallowing are explained, as is how to eat glass or walk barefoot on it, or how to walk barefoot up a ladder of swords. The explanations are enough to show how the tricks are done, but few readers are going to be tempted to try them. There were performers who didn't perform, but just showed themselves. Dwarves, giants, fatties are all here, all respectively taller, shorter, or lighter than their publicity banners proclaimed. Giants of such acts, for instance, sometimes had a contract that specified that they would not be measured. A bearded lady ("The Monkey Girl") and a man with the skin disease ichthyosis ("The Alligator Man") eloped in 1938, and were a sideshow feature as "The World's Strangest Married Couple"; they were happy together for over sixty years. Not all the displays were real, but as one carny said, "Oh, it's _all_ real. Some of it's really real, some of it's really fake, but it's all really good.") Hilariously, these exhibits which used to go under names like "Mother Nature's Mistakes" are sometimes now displayed in a "Horrors of Drug Abuse!" scare show.
Nickell closes with analysis of why the sideshows are fading into the past; it isn't because of any attempt to become politically correct, or any triumph of good taste; it comes down to simple economics, as fairs can make more money with, for instance, rides that take up the same space a midway does. Because it tells secrets of the sideshows, Nickell's book is a miscellany that is full of good humor and bizarre stories, like that of the bank robber who was killed by a sheriff's posse in 1916, and his mummified body passed from carnival to carnival. Somehow it became part of the "Laff-in-the-Dark" funhouse in Long Beach about forty years later, but everyone thought it was just a spray-painted mannequin until it broke and showed bones inside. He finally got laid to rest after a long postmortem career. There is a description of how to enlist fleas into a flea circus, and how to harness them to their particular tricks. There is an even more interesting description of the comic flea circus ("The Most Minuscule Show on Earth!") that has no fleas, only the colorful banter of the proprietor over the tiny apparatus ("She's blindfolded herself!... She's walking backward!"). If you want the lowdown on sideshows, step right up, ladies and gentlemen, Joe Nickell presents the best show on the midway.
Book Description
In July 1918, as the carnage of World War I continued, President Woodrow Wilson deployed U.S. troops to join other Allied forces in civil war-ravaged Russia. Ostensibly a mission to guard czarist military supplies and the Trans-Siberian Railroad, the true purpose of the Allied intervention was to help topple the nascent Bolshevik government.
Dispatched to some of the most remote regions of the Russian wilderness-from the frigid port city of Archangel to Lake Baikal to Vladivostok-the U.S. troops encountered fierce resistance from Red Army units, partisans, and peasants. Using previously classified official records and the letters and diaries of Americans who served there, Robert L. Willett describes the suffering of the hundreds of American soldiers who fought and died in subzero conditions, both in combat and from disease. Expertly researched and provocatively written, this book is the first to describe in detail the experiences of the American doughboys who fought in this little-known campaign-a tragically misguided military action that established a legacy of distrust that defined U.S.-Soviet relations for the next seven decades.
Customer Reviews:
America's Intervention in the Russian Civil War...........2006-11-17
.... is but a footnote in our country's diplomatic and military history. Robert Willett does a masterful job of presenting the arguments used by the British and French to convince President Wilson to commit troops to the Allied Intervention in North Russia and Siberia, as well as describing the chaotic military situation the American troops found themselves thrust into and how they performed. As the grandson of a U.S. Army "Polar Bear" soldier who fought in North Russia, I have a keen interest in this subject and have read many of the books that have been written on this subject. Of all those I have read, I believe that "Russian Sideshow" does the best job of covering all facets of this military intervention and does it in a style that is accessible to the average reader.
Excellent factual report.......2006-11-16
Willett is a Joe Friday type writer.."Just the facts....." He has done a tremendous amount of research on a narrow area; reporting facts with diligent reference work. He always separates the facts from the opinions and impressions of the participants of the campaign. As he states in the beginning of the book, it was not his purpose to delve into the geopolital issues heavily, but to document what really happened. He acomplished his goal of describing the campaign accurately. "Russian Sideshow" is an excellent study in the issues that military forces face when they receive "fuzzy" orders. An excellent read for anyone interested in "small wars" or, for senior military officers interested in what happens when they get those "fuzzy" orders.
This book should be read!.......2006-05-20
As a graduate student of history I am always trying to find subjects which are not taught even at the university level. This book is a prime example of history the average american should know about. Mr. Willett does a fantastic job with this little known military mistake by the United States and in the process, gives honor to those who fought and died. At every opprotunity, Willett gives the reader the names of those americans who died, thus honoring their forgotten sacrifice. If you love military history and want to know where the Cold War trully began, read this book!
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2007-06-16
There is a lot of information about the persons covered, like where they grew up and what happened until they died. There are also pictures of most of them.
I'm glad I got this book........2007-01-11
I used to go to the state fair and see the displays "See the biggest steer alive!" "See the smallest woman ever!" "See the lady who had her head chopped off in a car accident and she is still alive!" I always looked down on those people. This book helped me to see them as people and I am kind of sorry that I never went in to see any of the shows.
It's a hoot!.......2006-11-10
You have to be a touch "warped" to enjoy a book like this, but if that's what floats your boat... this is the perfect item!
Carny Folk.......2006-01-22
A fascinating review of side show freaks and the more human side of their story. They seemed to hold a most non PC point of view, and some would fight for what they considered to be their rights as oposed to the rights allowed by others.
Average customer rating:
- Freak Like Me (I Love the Jim Rose Circus)
- Straight from the horse's, er, Rose's mouth
- SICK!
- Freak Like Me is surprisingly touching and damn fascinating
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Freak Like Me (Real, Raw & Dangerous)
Jim Rose
Manufacturer: Dell
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0440507448
Release Date: 1995-09-01 |
Customer Reviews:
Freak Like Me (I Love the Jim Rose Circus).......2007-03-17
Jim Rose is a great showmen. The Circus has been around for many years. I own 2 of his books. Freak Like Me and Snake Oil. I would also add in that I own a copy of Circus of the Scars I think anyone who like jim rose should read. A Freak like Me tells you the story about how the Jim and the Circus got there start. The book is filled with many pictures and funny stories. I highly reccommend this book, you can only by this book used now. I would also say that you should see the twisted tour dvd and the jim rose circus sideshow dvd as well.
Straight from the horse's, er, Rose's mouth.......2001-10-03
Why would a man assemble a group of modern-day, self-made Freaks and tour the world, making people faint and throw up? Written by the group founder/leader, Freak Like Me covers Rose's childhood in Phonenix, getting teased for being cross-eyed and always being tied up while playing cowboys and Indians. Years later, working as an exterminator, Rose hands in his bug sprayer and heads to Europe, picking up the fine art of street performing along the way. Freak Like Me covers the birth of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow in 1991, and follows it through various incarnations up to the tour with Nine Inch Nails in 1994. The book has tons of pictures and descriptons of plenty of things you shouldn't do at home: as Rose intones in his show "go over to your friend's house to practice until you get really good." A bit Rose-centric at times, this is nevertheless an excellent look at the post-modern sideshow.
SICK!.......1999-02-11
Is lifting cement blocks with your nipples something you might find interesting? This book is SICK. This book is disgusting, horrifying and GROSS. AND MOST OF ALL IT'S AWESOME. The oddities in this book are to be cherished by the few who can appreciate there demented artistic qualities.
Freak Like Me is surprisingly touching and damn fascinating.......1998-03-24
I first became aware of Jim Rose on the "Humbug" episode of The X-Files. From then I was hooked. I scrounged around for all the info I could find on the man and his Circus. Through The Jim Rose Circus website, I found out about Freak Like Me. I ordered the book within days--and regretted nothing when I began reading it.
Freak Like Me is written in the candid, humorous tone that reflects Rose's performing demeanor. His book is open and honest without being graphically nasty. Yes, he is "graphic" in explaining what manipulations he and his roustabouts perform, but not unduly so. He takes his reader along for the ride, and what you encounter, you encounter. Rose makes no apologies. But he also doesn't gross you out just for gross-out's sake.
I was not disappointed by Freak Like Me in the least. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised to find Jim Rose to be a compassionate (and passionate) performer--which was surprising not because I didn't think he would be, but because I had hoped he would be and didn't want to be disappointed!
Jim Rose is a fascinating individual and a man dedicated to his art. And though some may not think of having one's face stuck in glass while someone else stands on your head as "art," Jim Rose's memoir shows that life and art are what you make of it. You say tomato, he'll hammer a nail up his nose.
Thanks for the opportunity to write about this wonderful book!
Book Description
In Patti Frazee's astonishing debut novel, enchantment and illusion casually commingle with reality as the Borefsky Brothers Circus makes its way across the American Midwest in the summer of 1900.
Mariana, the fortune teller, makes herself invisible and drifts through the nighttime circus, listening in on conversations and watching over her beloved Shanghai, a fire-breathing dwarf who closely guards his secrets, even from Mariana's second sight. Conjoined twins Atasha and Anna cling to each other and weep for their home and for their mother and father who sold them to the circus. Jakub, the circus manager and husband to Mariana, fears his wife's gifts, grieves his own failures, and drinks to forget it all. The stories and closely guarded histories of the troupe of performers dance around each other until a love affair between Shanghai and Atasha destroys the delicate balance.
As secrets are revealed and old wounds are opened, the consequences are unbearable to some and liberating to others. Lyrically graceful and populated by vividly drawn characters, Cirkus is a haunting novel of devastating heartbreak and exquisite loveliness.
"For everyone who has ever dreamed about juggling fire, spinning in space, or falling in love with the girl on the flying trapeze."-
Judith Katz, author of The Escape Artist and Running Fiercely Toward a High Thin Sound
"The 'freaks' of Cirkus are fully realized, poignantly drawn fictional characters. Conjoined twins Atasha and Anna, in particular, are so intimately portrayed that Frazee herself strikes me as a conjurer, a channeler of separate human experience."-
Alison McGhee, Author of Rainlight, Shadow Baby, and Was it Beautiful?
"A feast of words and dreams….Frazee's women are passionate spirits as vivid as those in the best fairytales, and still are real-their experiences a raw truth."-
Susan Power, author of Roofwalker and The Grass Dancer
Patti Frazee teaches creative writing at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. A native of Nebraska, she received her BFA in theater from the University of Nebraska/Kearney and her MFA in writing from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She received an honorable mention for the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice 2005 Emerging Lesbian Writer's Fund. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Customer Reviews:
This book is about our common humanity.......2006-07-22
The characters of this book are the side-show "freaks" in a circus traveling though the midwest of 1900 America. Patti Frazee has shown us that our wishes, dreams, problems, tradegies, make us all the same.
Cojoined twins love different men, disapprove of one-anothers choices. What sisters haven't?
Shanghai the dwarf, has a terrible childhood and carries a burdensome secret. Which of us doesn't have a tale of woe?
Mariana and her husband Jacob are living through betrayal and loss. Neither of them knows how to fix it. Sound familiar?
Once the strangness of these characters is stripped away this is a book about life and the toll it takes on us as we live it. I highly recommend it. And I am looking forward to her next book.
The best book of the year!.......2006-07-19
This is an amazing book! The author's style enabled me to join the cirkus myself with every page I turned. There is a character for everyone to identify with which leaves you cheering until the very end. I couldn't put it down. By far one of the best reads ever!
You won't be able to put it down!!.......2006-06-16
This is an amazing novel!!! The more you read, the more intense it gets. The author describes these characters so vividly that they become real. You will love it.
Cirkus.......2006-06-13
FIVE STARS -- This novel is a don't miss for anyone, but especially those who like to read something a little different. It's one you can't put down because you don't want to wait to find out how the characters interact and react. It's the kind of novel that you wake up in the morning thinking of the characters, feeling as though you know them. Patti's writing brings you right into the novel - you find you don't want to put the book down. [...] in and stimulated my imagination long after I'd read the book!
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Books Index
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Wild, Weird, and Wonderful: The American Circus 1901-1927 as seen by F. W. Glasier, Photographer
Step Right Up: Stories of Carnivals, Sideshows, and the Circus
American Sideshow : An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers
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Water for Elephants: A Novel
