Customer Reviews

Sideshow U.S.A.: Freaks and the American Cultural Imagination

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Recently I've read through a few books on sideshows and freaks (sort of side resarch for my next novel). Most are skimming histories of people and events. Adams has created something altogether different. Drawing on poststructuralist techniques, Barthes, theories of the leisure class, and methodologies of deconstructing narratives of the other (what "freak" would do all this!!??) she pursues the notion of freaks from appropriated nomenclature to social constructs, to name a couple avenues. You want to understand Browning's movie, then this is the essay.

Her research drew upon many sources, often comprehensive, at other times less than complete. The problems are minor, some people in photographs or freaks who wrote about their positions are not mentioned, or a name might be missing in the index, or a photo clearly dated 1885 in the picture is listed as 1903. And on a broader level I suppose she could be faulted for falling into the same trap she critiques, that of denying her her subjects voices (kudos for mentioning Gayatri Spivak but what would she say about this?)

But don't misread my finicky carping. This is an excellent book and one I'd recommend above all others I've seen for digging into our individual and collective psychologies. Read it and learn why the freaks say, "Gooble Gobble Gooble Gobble, we will make you one of us."

For me, this book was somewhat boring because the author seems to be showing off her intellect, rather than focusing on freaks. She did a fantastic job of using big words and analyzing every possible aspect of freak shows, the people involved, and what other people think about it. It's a well written book for someone who likes to read analytical opinions, and I understand that the opinions expressed were pretty correct, but as I said, it was boring to me. If you are one who can read "big words" and "big sentences" (more educated than me, and able to get the sense and meaning of long statements with big words without having to stop and go over what was being said or to look up the meanings of words)....you would most likely enjoy this book. You can see that the author is an intelligent and highly educated person.