Carnival Undercover [Paperback]

Troy Prickett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 2003

Entertaining, hilarious, and filled with hundreds of insider tips, this handbook will teach you how to win the biggest prize every time, identify the best seat on any ride, recognize the real freaks from the phonies, and create a carnival-quality funnel cake in your own home. This behind-the-scenes look at America's amusement parks also includes the goods on carnival trade secrets-from how cotton candy is made to which coasters have injured the most people. A book for the aficionado and pop culture enthusiast alike, Carnival Undercover is required reading for the 270 million Americans who visit amusement parks and fairs every year.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Ladies and gentlemen! Step right up and learn the secrets of the midway! Arranged for beginners, this book first gives an overview of the carnival layout and the psychology behind it. The section on food contains a brief history of the common items, as well as recipes for funnel cakes. In "Midway Games Revealed," the odds of winning are shared, though how these were determined isn't clear. More importantly, the tricks to the games are exposed-once one knows the physics of the can toss, it is easier to capture the giant stuffed animal that comes with the win. A brief history of roller coasters and other rides follows. Finally, a brief and respectful history of sideshow acts and their secrets is shared, with plenty of warnings against attempting these tricks at home. "A Field Guide to Carnies" is less successful, and the accompanying cartoons are a bit stereotypical. Otherwise, this is a great introduction for those who just want to know the way things work at carnivals and fairs.
Jamie Watson, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Bret Witter has been a carnival and amusement park enthusiast since his first visit to the North Alabama State Fair in 1978. This is his first book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Plume (April 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452284287
• ISBN-13: 978-0452284289
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,373,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hello fellow book lovers! And thank you for visiting my page. I am a full-time, self-trained professional writer who specializes in contemporary nonfiction, usually working with a co-author to tell their inspiring true story. I grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, attended Duke University, and worked a series of forgettable jobs for twelve years until getting my big break when Vicki Myron and I collaborated on Dewey, the story of the famous library cat of Spencer, Iowa, in 2008. Since then, my books have sold more than 2 million copies, been translated into more than 30 languages, and spent more than 40 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list--as well as on bestseller lists in far-flung places like Korea and Brazil. (I still can't believe it myself, but I appreciate it every day.) I currently live in the great city of Louisville, Kentucky, with my wife, my two children, my two cats, and my mid-century modern furniture. My daughter Lydia, who is seven, really wanted to be in my author photo, so there she is. I have to admit--she makes me look much better.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Passport to the Land of Cotton Candy, May 14, 2003

By 

Coroner Pete "Metalion" (Wheeling, WV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Carnival Undercover (Paperback)

Look out carnies!! You took me for a mark last year, and the year before. I spent mountains of cash trying to win an inflatable Marmaduke for a girl who's name I don't even remember. This summer, Bret Witter has arrived with this funny and sharp survival guide to fun at the fair. This is a great tipsheet to common midway games, loaded with entertaining facts and the skinny on how to win, for once. Plus loads of stuff about rollercoasters and life behind the scenes. This book should pay for itself in sticky treats and silly prizes. Even if it rains all summer and I don't go to the fair at all, I am still thoroughly entertained.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A brief collection of commonly known old facts, November 28, 2004

By 

G. G. Robins - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Carnival Undercover (Paperback)

This book was a quick read and was disappointing. It claims to enlighten the reader to the world behind the scenes of the amusement industry and carnivals but in reality it is nothing more than a few well known facts compiled into different chapters. It is very shallow and although I did get a couple of laughs out of it, it does not delve deeply enough into the subject matter to reveal anything "secret" or previously unknown. Having worked in a similar industry for over a decade I know there is much more going on behind the scenes.But you wont read about it here.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book - lots of fun to read. Thoroughly enjoyable, August 22, 2004

By 

DWD "DWD's Reviews" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Carnival Undercover (Paperback)

"Who doesn't love a carnival, fair or amusement park? They have everything you could ask for: Fried food, dangerous-looking rides, macho games, freak shows, meat-on-a-stick, champion milking cows, and teenagers dressed up as giant stuffed animals...If that's not America, what is?"

That's the opening quote of this book that tells you all the ins and outs of the carnival business - everything from the economics involved in owning a booth to how to become a carnie to ride safety to the freek shows. It also tells you how to win at certain games, the inside skinny on some of the major theme parks (did you know that DisneyWorld has an underground vacuum powered garbage removal - much like the system at your bank's drive through window - so that you don't have to see any garbage being hauled through the park?) and which food booths to avoid at your local fair (chicken & fish due to easy spoilage and the booths that sell more than 2 or 3 items - the specialists are just better).