Side Show: My Life with Geeks, Freaks and Vagabonds in the Carny Trade [Paperback]

Howard Bone (Author), Daniel Waldron (Author), Teller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

Cultural Writing. Memoir. Howard Bone was a sideshow magician virtually his whole working life. During a long, eventful, and adventurous career he lived every aspect of outdoor show business in its golden era. SIDE SHOW captures the flavor of those boisterous times -- the characters, the scenes, the scams, the dodges, the joys and sorrows of carny ways as only an insider could know them. An appealing, amusing and down and dirty glimpse into the rarely depicted nether regions of show business -- Ricky Jay, magician, actor, and author.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bone, who spent most of his life working in carnival side shows, is touted by his publisher as the ultimate backstage guide, though he actually reveals very little in this posthumous volume, which has the enticing yet sleazy feel of a carny con. Time and again, Bone starts describing some fabulous act of his the Blindfolded Drive, the Man Who Can't Be Hung and then, in a classic bait and switch, cuts away without telling how it was done. Yet the book remains compulsively readable. The foreword from comedian Teller (of Penn & Teller) offers an amusing carny-meets-St. Peter joke that establishes the book's sense of tantalizing mystery. The narrative, which reads like a rambling conversation over too many beers, sketches in the rough outlines of Bone's career, from his days as an "inside talker" who lured audiences to watch geek acts (i.e., the Man Who Bites the Head Off a Chicken) to his stints in athletic or "at' shows," where he would fight anyone who volunteered to enter the ring. He also appeared in various torture acts and even performed a dash of magic. Each episode includes colorful vocabulary, which Bone explains as he goes along (there is also a glossary). Apart from all the hoopla, it's Bone's sad but un-self-pitying life that draws readers in. A broke bum when he joined his first side show, Bone died in a dreary V.A. hospital as a broke old man. He had few friends who lasted longer than a carny circuit, and he abandoned a wife and three children along the way. Straight life just didn't have much pull for Bone, who was more at home with the "itchy feet, gypsy souls, and vagabond hearts" of the carny world.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Part of a vanishing culture, Bone led an extraordinary carnival life, and his cumulative experiences throughout 40 years as an itinerant sideshow magician, barker, fakir, fighter, and carny are presented here in a series of quasi-chronological vignettes. Having worked every aspect of carnival sideshows, Bone, a World War II veteran and martial arts master, was renowned for his classic schtick, "The Man Who Can't Be Hung," in which two brawnish farmboy types selected from the crowd played tug-of-war with a long rope looped around Bone's neck. Tough as nails, feisty, irascible, and fearless, Howard spins one fetching yarn after another, all dripping with rich carny slang (an appended glossary of terms is very informative and useful). What emerges is a portrait, devoid of self-pity, of a harsh, nomadic life full of eccentric characters and an inveterate love of the life. Bone died in 1997 in an Indiana VA hospital, destitute and long estranged from his carnival showgirl wife and three children. Teller, of Penn & Teller, perhaps this generation's in-carny-ation of the sideshow, knew and admired Bone and contributes a delightful foreword. This is an excellent contribution to a growing list of recently published circus books like Nell Stroud's Josser (LJ 2/1/01) and Donnalee Frega's Women of Illusion: A Circus Family's Story (LJ 5/1/01). Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 137 pages
• Publisher: Sun Dog Press; 1st edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941543285
• ISBN-13: 978-0941543286
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #899,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant, But Ultimately Disappointing, September 11, 2002

By 

Home Studio (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Side Show: My Life with Geeks, Freaks and Vagabonds in the Carny Trade (Paperback)

I'd love to give this book a higher rating, but it's disappointingly slim in both size and content. It feels like the unfinished outline for a book which the author was never able to write. The author's entire marriage (of many years, and several children) is dismissed in two paragraphs. He frequently refers to the great and unbelievable stories he could tell about life on the road...then neglects to tell them. There aren't even any photos to spice up the narrative (though it sounds like the author never made enough money on the road to afford a camera). In all fairness, this is a pleasant little book, and not a bad addition to an existing collection for sideshow/carny fans. But there are other, better books out there which you should go to first.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The life and times of an old-world, real-life carny, December 22, 2006

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Schtinky "Schtinky" (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Side Show: My Life with Geeks, Freaks and Vagabonds in the Carny Trade (Paperback)

'Side Show' is a compilation by editor Daniel Waldron of one the last manuscripts left by accomplished career carny Howard Bone. Waldron's Introduction and Teller's (of Penn And Teller) Forward tell give a much needed background to the book's contents focusing on Bone's musings over his life in carnivals and circuses.

Bone's musings are short, and the book does contain the feel of something that could have been so much more, but the stories are still fun and entertaining enough to hold up to four stars. It's the personal "telling" rather than any detailed content that grabs a hold of your attention and keeps you reading straight through to the end. It leaves you wishing Mr. Bone were still alive, and that you could sit an chat with him awhile to fill in the blanks.

Bone was a veteran of World War II and a black belt, ninth degree Master, of Itto Ryu Jutsu, a form of martial arts. Unfortunately, the stories compiled in this book don't include any detail of either part of Bone's life, except how he used his martial arts to perform feats in the carnival. Magic Shows, Athletic Shows, Torture Acts, backup on Animal Acts, Mr. Bone covered a lot of ground in his lifelong career with "traveling entertainment".

'Side Show' is a short but entertaining read, not detailed on any particular aspect of carnival life but rather like having a short chat with a newly found friend of his tumultuous life. Easy to read in one sitting, I would recommend this book if you like memoirs of a lost lifestyle. Enjoy!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative and great sideshow facts!, July 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Side Show: My Life with Geeks, Freaks and Vagabonds in the Carny Trade (Paperback)

Personally, I loved this Book! This is a very well written recounting of the sideshows of yesteryear, obvious of the authors past. He has added every detail of how the sideshow used to be and this makes terrific reading for those interested in the history of such a wonderful (yet almost forgotten) pastime. This is most certainly a text of material for any serious sideshow lover!