Customer Reviews

The New American Circus

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In America circus books come in two categories: Children books, giving an infantile look at a kind of circus which exists, most of the time, only in the author's imagination; and "circus history" books, usually compilations of previous works on the subject repeating the same anecdotes, collection of trivia, and "facts" whose sources are often mysterious (and thus make these facts often arguable).

Ernest Albrecht's work is different: It is a knowledgeable study of the state of the American circus today -- more specifically, its recent evolution from a three-ring, commercial spectacle often disconnected with the reality of the modern world to a contemporary form of performing art.

This evolution -- or revolution -- didn't happen in one day, and its pioneers (Pickle Family Circus, Big Apple Circus and, of course, Cirque du Soleil) were not born out of thin air. When and where did their creators find their inspiration? Who were these revolutionary creators? Why did people who, by in large, had originally nothing to do with the circus decided to reinvent it? And did they actually reinvent anything?

Ernest Albrecht, a theater critic who came to develop a keen interest in the "new circus" movement, asked himself these questions and went on to find answers.

Here is a rarity in this country: a book on the circus that dispenses with the usual nostalgia attached to anything regarding the American circus and treats its subject seriously, as would be any other perfornming art. As such, it is a must read for anyone interested in the theater, the performing arts in general, and (evidently) the circus arts. It is also a must read for any curious mind -- any one who wishes to see the circus from a point of view different from what P.T. Barnum wanted us to believe when he launched his "Greatest Show On Earth" as a uniquely American commercial venture more than one and a half century ago.

Dominique Jando

This book fills a much-needed gap in the literature on circuses, which for the most part have only examined three-ring circuses--despite the fact that circus in the United States had one ring before it had three. These books focusing on three-ring spectacles have also been, for the most part, rather dry histories that take all of the excitement out of a topic that is (to me) very stimulating. This book treats circus as the art form that it is, and puts interesting individuals and characters back into the story of the American circus with its excellent personal interviews. I wish other literature on the circus could be as engaging.