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The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum

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I'm trying to work out why exactly this is the only children's biography of P.T. Barnum I remember having seen before. I'm sure there are others. If I could just lift my lazy fingers high enough to type in "P.T. Barnum" into my library's catalog system I'm sure I'd find a couple. But why only a couple? Why isn't Barnum as popular a topic as, say, Houdini? Both spent their lives bamboozling people, one way or another. But where Houdini got off looking like a star, people are awfully mixed on Barnum. Which, I suppose, answers my own question. Why aren't there that many children's bios of Mr. B? Probably because he wasn't a very good man or a very bad man. He was just a very talented man with a fair amount of problems. The kind of guy who loved children... and was, for a time, an alcoholic who would leave his wife to faint in public. Who fought for the right for blacks to vote... and owned a slave. Multifaceted people don't end up in children's biographies all that often because it takes a dedicated author to have the guts to show the bad alongside the good. Guts like Candace Fleming's got. Guts like what you'd find in The Great and Only Barnum.

It's nice when a life has a defining moment in it. P.T. Barnum's apparently came when, as a kid, he discovered that his inheritance from his practical joker of a grandfather was a swampy snake-infested spit of land. Meant to humble young Tale and turn him into a hard worker, the plan backfired. Instead the lad fell in love with bamboozling and practical jokes. Born in 1810, young Tale had already learned that he wasn't much for manual labor. Nor, for that matter, was he cut out to work in shops or behind desks. If it bored him, he wasn't interested. Maybe that's why he got into the business of showmanship. He started out by exhibiting a woman he claimed had been George Washington's nursemaid. From there he went on two build two magnificent museums of wonder and buffoonery, tour the 19th century pop star Jenny Lind, serve on the Connecticut state legislature, and help to create the greatest show on earth, the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Barnum was a uniquely American character, with a truly interesting life. An extensive Bibliography (including websites), and Source Notes are included.

The book is told in a straightforward manner, generally telling Barnum's tale chronologically. Considering the subject matter, however, Fleming is free to indulge in some enjoyable elements. For example, at one point the book is laid out in a manner similar to Barnum's museum itself. Readers step into each saloon and hear about what one could find there. Those of us familiar with the musical Barnum (yay, Jim Dale!) would even be able to recite the things one found from The Museum Song ("Quite a lotta Roman terra cotta . . .). Of course the modern reader may feel superior to their historical brethren, but Barnum's Museum was just an ancestor of today's Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum or the "educational" Bodies... The Exhibition which travels the country. Say what you will about Barnum, while he may have taxidermied people's pets while they waited, he never went so far as to do the same for actual human beings.

So why are we even reading about this guy? Because he's fascinating. A guy who had his good and bad points. To watch Fleming do the dance of explaining the man, not covering up his lesser qualities, and still presenting him as a kind of charming cad is mesmerizing. She's writing for kids and teens as her primary audience, yes? Then that means putting in some rather adult materials, without going into the delicate details. Barnum had a good friend in a Phoebe Cary, with whom he remained close for twenty years while married, until she died. On that subject we would only be able to speculate anyway. Fleming does not delve or suppose. Just the fact, ma'am.

Is she an apologist for Barnum? I struggled with that question all through the book. When explaining that Barnum only claimed to be renting Ms. Joice Heth from her real "owner" Ms. Fleming answers more honestly than the man himself in saying, "But even if he didn't technically own Joice, he still acted like her master. He displayed the tired old woman before the public. And she had no choice but to submit." She never damns him directly. Never says, "Here is a bad man for such n' such a reason." She could many times over if she wanted to. His museum only let in blacks on specific days and times. His animals died in a variety of ways. You could villainize him or saint him depending on your mood. Fleming does neither. She simply displays him, warts and all, to the child readers and allows them to make up their own mind on the matter.

Why do we like him? I dunno. Maybe it was the good-natured quality of his pranks. How do you help but smile when you hear how for the opening of his museum he placed the worst possible musicians on his roof so that people could only flee the sound by going INTO the museum. He paid his "Human Curiosities" a generous salary. He said of them that when people met them in his museum, "I want folks to say `what an amazing person' not `there but for the grace of God go I.'" His menagerie "was not well cared for" but he was so well informed about animals for his time period that folks from the American Museum of Natural History would actually ask him for advice regarding animals.

Fleming has done her research too. Readers are left with very few questions by the end of her tale. There was really only one moment when I was left hankering for more facts. Early in his career and without a penny to his name, Barnum hit upon the idea of creating his infamous Museum. To buy it on credit he put up his worthless spit of land, Ivy Island. That's all well and good, but then he filled the museum to brimming with people, animals, exhibits, you name it. He even went so far as to cover the museum in painted plaques, flags from numerous countries, premier New York's first spotlight, and hire a brass band on its opening day. So how on earth did a man without much in the way of money get all of this? Credit? If so, Barnum was as savvy a businessman as you could ever hope to find in American history. But it's a mystery that remains unanswered here.

Mark Twain despised him. People loved him. He fooled men, women, and children alike. One minute he was bringing his circus to small children. The next he was attempting to buy the American side of Niagara Falls so that he could build a fence to prevent one side from seeing it without paying. He insisted that blacks be given the right to vote because "A human soul is not to be trifled with," then turned around and exhibited the Chiefs of the Nine [Indian:] Nations along with other "Human Curiosities". He is repugnant and compelling by our modern standards and he has left his mark on the American landscape, for good or ill. Children's biographies are not always about saintly people. Once in a great while they are about complex characters. And as you will find, they don't get much more complex than Phineas Taylor Barnum, King of the Humbugs.

Two summers ago I traveled across the country to attend the tie dye-attired Gathering of the Vibes music festival at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut. While wandering about the Park that weekend, I came upon an imposing statue of showman P. T. Barnum and also noticed a Park road named in his honor. I wondered what that was all about. Now I know.

When P. T Barnum was born in Connecticut in 1810, the U.S. was comprised of 17 states and Lewis and Clark had only recently completed their death-defying expedition to the Pacific coast and back. When Barnum died in 1891, the nation had expanded to 43 states and he was sending mile-long trainloads of circus people, animals, and tents into those once-distant regions of the country to entertain millions and generations of Americans.

By the time the paradoxical showman and impresario died, he was also the best-known American in the world, and he had forever changed our world -- for better or for worse -- by giving birth to modern day concepts and processes of celebrity, hype, and publicity machines.

"Tale learned two lessons that he remembered all his life. The first was 'learning how to call an adversary's bluff with a threat that cannot be ignored.' The second was 'When entertaining the public, it is best to have an elephant.'"

Writing and reading about many of the Founding Fathers is forever complicated by the long, dark shadow cast by their ownership of slaves and their treatment of women. In a similar fashion, Candace Fleming's fascinating and thought-provoking biography of Phineas Taylor Barnum compels one to reflect upon his treatment of people and animal performers, his outrageous distortions and hoaxes, and his seduction and subversion of the media.

"'A fortune was made with a bit of good-natured deception,' said Barnum."

On one hand, it was horrible that Barnum placed people with physical disabilities on public display to enrich himself. On the other hand, these were people with no prospects for work outside of what he offered, and he gave them a sense of belonging and paid many of them princely sums. On one hand, he was forever lying to and defrauding his audiences. On the other, people really seemed to relish it. "'First Mr. Barnum humbugs them, and then they pay to hear him tell how he did it.'"

My own reflections on the showman's career primarily involve his popularizing wild animal acts. Barnum actually won over the founder of the SPCA who admired Barnum's caring of and about the circus animals. And, yet, we can assume that his trainers employed physical pain and coercion on a daily basis to train those animals, a practice that has generally been the case since those days.

"The fact is, animals do not naturally ride bicycles, stand on their heads, balance on balls, or jump through rings of fire. To force them to perform these confusing and physically uncomfortable tricks, trainers use whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks, and other painful tools of the trade." -- PETA (which provides graphic undercover videos online)

But it is also a reality that if the average American child is to become emotionally invested in the future survival of lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos, etc., they need to be afforded face to face opportunities to know the world's greatest creatures. I know that I would not have experienced quite the same emotional reaction to the scenes with Peter and the elephant in Kate DiCamillo's upcoming THE MAGICIAN'S ELEPHANT, if it were not for cherished memories of having gotten to be up close to an elephant many years ago when I would drive my then-young children to Marine World-Africa U.S.A.

Through his museums and circuses, P. T. Barnum provided those in-person experiences to so many Americans.

There is certainly no question that so much of what has constituted entertainment for the average person over the course of my lifetime has deep roots in the wildly successful career of P. T. Barnum. For example, I thought that nothing like the Beatles coming to America had ever happened before. But I sure was wrong! When Barnum -- more than a century before the Beatles -- decided to contract with European singing sensation Jenny Lind to come to America and perform for $1,000 a night, he found that virtually nobody in America knew who she was. Undaunted, he churned up a publicity whirlwind so immense that by the time her ship arrived in New York "a mob of people -- forty thousand in all -- was waiting for her" and he proceeded to sell out her concerts night after night after night.

As always, Candace Fleming does a stupendous research job and then knows exactly what content and presentation of that information will make for a tremendously entertaining book from which you can gain a whole mess of media literacy, American history, and ethics without ever once realizing that you are immersed in learning. From one end to the other, Barnum's life is an amazing story. Again and again, Fleming enhances her telling of that story through the use of memorable anecdotes, scores of photographs, and images from newspapers of the day.

I'll be heading back to Seaside Park -- given to the city of Bridgeport by Barnum -- for Gathering of the Vibes again this summer and, thanks to Fleming's THE GREAT AND ONLY BARNUM, I have a lot to think about when I again encounter that statue overlooking the Sound.

This is the most fun I've had reading history in years. The stories are told with gusto. The book's design is delightful. And the photographs?! What kid (especially a boy) won't be drawn into its pages by bearded ladies and dog-faced boys. Better yet, the history IS important. I discovered that PT Barnum is more than a circus guy. His innovations in the art of marketing, advertising, celebrity are still with us today. An amazing book, all the way around!

Phineas T. Barnum seemed to be a go-getter from day one. He was a young entrepreneur with prodigious math skills and by the time he reached the age of seven he was earning so much money, his father insisted he purchase his own clothing. He was quietly duped into believing he would one day be wealthy because he owned Ivy Island, in reality a mucky swamp. He later turned that property into collateral for one of the most advantageous deals of his life and could spout with pride, "I became a chip off my grandfather's block," a first class prankster. Not content to be a mere shop keeper his mind was always whirling, thinking up fantastical get-rich schemes so he wouldn't have to slave the rest of his life.

He saw great opportunities ahead when he purchased Joice Heth, purportedly "The World's Oldest Living Woman," a 161-year-old former slave who had changed George Washington's diapers. Money was to be made, but when the fraud was discovered his name would forever be "linked with hoaxes and fakery." Later when he became successful with his museum, Barnum's American Museum, and other amazing oddities, the New York Sun declared his name was "synonymous with the curious, the wondrous, the odd." He toured the world with unusual people like Tom Thumb, built himself Iranistan, a palace, invented the three ring circus . . . if it could be done, P.T. Barnum would do it. Especially if Barnum, the "Prince of Humbugs," could make a buck!

Years ago I read Barnum's autobiography and thoroughly enjoyed it, but this biography was exciting, fun and will keep his memory alive with yet another generation of children. I like the fact that the book stressed the fact that Barnum hired the disabled when they otherwise would languish in the back wards of institutions or remain unemployed. He also had very high regard for his employees, not calling them "freaks," but declared each one a "person with such unique characteristics." He also would say in his lectures, "I want folks to say, `what an amazing person, not there but for the grace of God go I.'" The book was well, written, researched and very interesting. The book is peppered with black and white photographs, reproduced ephemera, and numerous informative sidebars. In the back of the book is a thorough index, a bibliography where additional resource materials can be found and some recommended web sites. If you want a ringside seat into the great P.T. Barnum's life, you've come to the right place!

I thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating look into the life of the renowned showman P. T. Barnum. This larger-than-life figure is not easy to capture on paper, but Fleming does an admirable job capturing his elephant-sized personality. I especially liked the sections on his early years, where we learn how a small time boy known as Tale from the tiny village of Bethel, Connecticut evolved into P.T. Barnum, the world-famous showman. For example, we learn how Tale came from a family of practical jokesters who were also thrifty Yankees, and Tale began saving his pennies at an early age. By the time he was eight years old, he became a peddler, selling candy and other items to volunteer soldiers who trained nearby. He excelled in school, particularly in math, but often had to miss school to help out on the farm. But business was his talent, and he had many clever and funny business ideas that are detailed in this biography. Early on, he realizes he wants to be his own boss, and at the age of 24 relocates to New York City, now with a wife and child, to make his fortune.

Barnum starts his show business career by purchasing an exhibit of an ancient slave, Joice Heth, who was thought to be 161 years old and the baby nurse of George Washington. Fleming explains that exhibits of unusual people like Joice Heth were common in Barnum's day, and although it seems distasteful to our modern sensibilities such shows could be perfectly respectable in that era. When Heth died, Barnum even made money by charging for her autopsy! It didn't matter that she turned out to be only around 80 years old--Barnum had started his career as a traveling showman, and he didn't look back.

One of the fascinating aspects of Barnum's life was his cycle of rags to riches, repeated numerous times in his life. His highly successful American Museum, which made him rich exhibiting everything from live exotic animals, including an aquarium with live whales, giraffes, and a rhinoceros, to human curiosities such as Chang and Eng, the Siamese Twins, and assorted oddities, burned to the ground, was rebuilt by Barnum, and burned again. He went bankrupt through bad investments in a clock company, ran--and served--in public office, and finally, in his later years, became a circus man.

In profiles of Barnum's relationship with opera singer Jenny Lind and miniature man Tom Thumb, Fleming demonstrates how Barnum was one of the first to exploit the cult of celebrity that we take for granted in the 21st century. He was brilliant at generating publicity, and knew how to generate a media frenzy before the phrase was coined. Barnum was such a celebrity that the New York Sun, as a favor to Barnum, printed his obituary early so that Barnum could read it; within a month of its publication, Barnum died at age 81.

Although she writes with obvious affection for her subject, Fleming does not glorify this huge 19th century figure. We see, for example, that Barnum the private man could be cruel to his first wife, who bore him four daughters. Also, although he loved children in general, he paid little attention to his own children (although he had more time to lavish affection on his grandchildren). Fleming brings into her narrative many interesting aspects of Barnum the man. For example, at the young age of 13, Barnum turned his back on his strict Calvinist upbringing, and became a Universalist, who believed God's nature was love. Religion was important to Barnum throughout his life, and when misfortune struck, he believed it was the will of God. He even took the pulpit from time to time; according to Fleming, one churchgoer remembered that Barnum "talked about the nature of the Gospel and of God's love...[he] mentioned neither tigers or elephants."

The book features the very effective use of many sidebars, photographs, drawings from the period, and ephemera such as ticket stubs, broadsides, and programs, much as in Fleming's book about the Lincolns (The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary). Kudos should go to illustrator Ray Fenwick as well as designer Rachael Cole for their role in making this such an attractive book to browse through as well as read cover-to-cover.

The Great and Only Barnum has received multiple awards, including: ALA Best Books for Young Adults 2010; ALSC Notable Book 2010; Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book 2009; New York Public Library 100 Books for Reading and Sharing Title; Publishers Weekly Best Book 2009; YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults 2010 (nominee). The publisher suggests this book for ages 8-12; I would add that it is equally suitable for young adults and adults as well.

Fleming provides an annotated bibliography, useful links to find Barnum on the web, source notes, and an index.

The Great and Only Barnum by Candice Fleming was one of the first young adult non-fiction books I've read. Not to mention it's a biography, which is another genre I'm pretty poor at reading in. But let me say, this title did NOT disappoint.

TGAOB follows the life of show man P. T. Barnum from his birth to his death, highlighting his younger years as a sales clerk, shuffling between Connecticut and New York City and his decision to go into show business. His circus career began, as it seems, quite accidentally, after a long stint in the museum business. I thought Fleming's narrative was engrossing: I found myself flying through the text, eager to learn more about the man of infamy. At the beginning of the book, we meet his lineage, and throughout the text, I kept thinking back to a connection Fleming made between Barnum's prankster grandfather and himself. The likeness was not only amusing, but it really did shed a lot of light into why Barnum chose the path he did in life and why, even though he has had so many critics, he is still a fascinating and likeable character.

Throughout the book, there are ample photographs, and there is a fascinating spread of sideshow trading cards. I thought the section about the people Barnum brought to the spotlight left him more of a good person than a bad person -- if there were a bias in this book as a whole, it would be that it was quite apologetic for Barnum's decisions to showcase people with different physical traits from the norm. But at the same time, it didn't delve deeply enough into the criticisms he received to make these apologetics worth including in the text; it almost seemed like a preemptive band-aid for those reading the text who might be ready to be angry. From the text, it seemed to me that Barnum really and truly cared for his people, putting them to spotlight to showcase the varied nature of humanity (and while there was absolutely financial gain here for him, he also took great care of these people who may otherwise have been outcasts in society).

Some of the issues I had with the book included the facts that were brought up but not elucidated further. I wish I could learn more about the strange relationship Barnum had with his first wife (though we hear about his quick marriage overseas) and I would love to learn more about the race relations. Barnum's museum had a policy to not allow African Americans in, except for a few hours one day a week. Knowing the museum was in New York City, I had a lot of questions about whether this was the norm and whether Barnum's policy was groundbreaking because he let them in. Here's perfect fodder for a future book!

I thought the use of sidebars and photos was well done, with just enough to keep me interested. I appreciated how, for the most part, the narrative ended on the page where a side bar was so I could read those without flipping pages; unfortunately, this did not last throughout the book and became a point of frustration for me. More frustrating, though, were the sidebars that jumped pages and the use of the black box with white text. It is well-known this is the hardest way to read text. But aesthetically, the book showcased a nice use of font to text to decorative elements, and it felt like a lengthy magazine article. This will definitely appeal to teen readers AND to adult readers who want to know about Barnum but don't want to invest time into a lengthier biography. I got just enough to pique my interest.

My other criticism on this title is that there was not enough discussion of the circus. I went in believing to know about Barnum's circus career and decisions, and though I learned these came near the end of his life, I wanted more. I wanted to know how the various circuses came to meld together and become what they are in today's society. Again: here's another prime book opportunity. Something of that nature would be a great readalike to this one. Authors - take note!

THE GREAT AND ONLY BARNUM: THE TREMENDOUS, STUPENDOUS LIFE OF SHOWMAN P.T. BARNUM offers ages 8-12 a fine blend of black and white photos throughout and a survey of showman and founder of the Barnum and Bailey Circus's life and times. Old circus posters, memorabilia, playbills and more accompany an exciting biography and history of a man with high goals and vision: over 140 pages packed with biography and insights.