Customer Reviews

Carnival Undercover

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

"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).

What food should you eat at the carnival? What seat is the best seat on a rollercoaster? How can you make the log flume make a bigger splash? What are the danger signs for rides? Are games fixed (or gaffed, as it is called in the amusement park/carnival/fair world)? Find out the answers to these and so many more mysteries of the carnival.

Bret Witter writes about every aspect of the ride/booth based life. From how to get involved to how to have the best time while attending, Witter manages to touch upon every curiosity. Subjects are marked with symbols- Top Secret Information, Tips to Improve Your Skills, and Terrible Tales.

It's not a must read. There's no page turner quality to it. It's more like the kind of thing you pick up every so often and read a section or two. Or you read it before or take it with you when going to a fair, carnival, or amusement park of some sort. There are certainly some fun facts and interesting details. If you have a friend who loves going to the county fair or the carnival or who is obsessed with amusement parks, this is a fun gift for them. For me, it needs some sort of a narrative, just reading the facts of a carnival isn't as interesting as it might have been to follow a few people in each setting.

But, it has a recipe for Funnel Cakes! What could be better than that?

I really enjoyed this book. I found myself sitting down and reading it, cover to cover, in less than a day.

It's a very well-written and humorous overview of the carnival experience. It gives the inside scoop on carnival food, rides, games, and careers. I found the information on coasters a bit dry, but the rest was easy reading and highly entertaining. Lorelei Sharkey's illustrations are a great "sideshow" for this book, as well.

While reading this book, Mr. Witter's first, I found myself already wanting to read more by this author. Just as the 80s gave us Dave Barry, and the 90s Bill Bryson, we just might be looking at the next great humorist of the 00s here - Bret Witter.

Highly recommended.

This book made me laugh a lot. I found myself repeating out loud quotes in the book to the people in the room, it was that funny. He described how to play the games and it seemed like he described the way to win pretty well. He covers all topics carnival related, such as freak shows, carnival rides, food and of course the games. I have had this book on my shelf over a year and have not picked it up until today, it is too bad because I have gone to Reno a few times and to circus-circus casino, a casino chain famous for its carnival-midway, I could have used my new skills if I had read the book earlier. Oh well, next time.

This book is an amusing short, easy read that covers the "inside" view of carnivals. It points out the way common, seemingly easy carnival games are rigged to make them very difficult to win. And, even if you do win, you receive a prize that cost the operator less than you paid to play. Perils of the food stands are poitned out - always buy from a busy vendor who focusses on one type of food. We also get the low-down on various roller coasters at amusement parks around the US.
I gave the book 3 out of 5 because it was amusing but not compelling. It lacked a bit of substance and parts of it felt like filler.

This is a neat little book and in excellent shape.. Fast service. I bought it thinking there might be a recipe in it that I've been trying to locate..It wasn't but the book has a lot of interesting material in it anyway.

Bret Witter's CARNIVAL UNDERCOVER is very cool! Finally you get the real story on carnival games, food, rides, workers, and the business in general.

If you find yourself wondering how the big carnival machine works, you'll get the answers here. It was so good I read the entire book at once!!