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Under the Big Top: A Season with the Circus
 
 
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Under the Big Top: A Season with the Circus [Hardcover]

Bruce Feiler (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)


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Book Description

June 12, 1995
The author's account of living out a childhood fantasy documents his 9,100-mile journey as a circus clown and offers a behind-the-scenes view of an exotic, magical, often dangerous life and a look at America from a unique perspective. 15,000 first printing.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After several years of work and travel abroad, Feiler (Learning to Bow) decided that joining the circus would be a good way to study America, as well as live a long-deferred childhood dream. He was accepted as a clown and spent the eight-month 1993 season with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus, which plays the South and Northeast. With performers from more than a dozen countries, this troupe was truly a melting pot, though most had picked up some of the racism they encountered here. Far from conforming to the image of degenerates, the circus people the author met led rather conventional lives within their restricted world. Feiler admits the humor of clowns is "silly," and few readers are likely to share his admiration for acts like that of a young woman who juggles while hanging by her hair. Generally, however, this warm and affectionate memoir is pleasantly entertaining. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Praise for UNDER THE BIG TOP“A stunning collective portrait of an ingrown community with its own history, hierarchy, and traditions.” --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner; 1ST edition (June 12, 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0684197588
  • ISBN-13: 978-0684197586
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BRUCE FEILER is one of America's most popular voices on faith, family, and finding meaning in everyday life. He is the best-selling author of nine books, including WALKING THE BIBLE, ABRAHAM, and AMERICA'S PROPHET, and one of only a handful of writers to have four consecutive New York Times nonfiction bestsellers in the last decade. He is also the writer/presenter of the PBS miniseries WALKING THE BIBLE. His latest book, THE COUNCIL OF DADS, tells the uplifting story of how friendship and community can help one survive life's greatest challenge.

Bruce Feiler's early books involve immersing himself in different cultures and bringing other worlds vividly to life. These include LEARNING TO BOW, an account of the year he spent teaching in rural Japan; LOOKING FOR CLASS, about life inside Oxford and Cambridge; and UNDER THE BIG TOP, which depicts the year he spent performing as a clown in the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus.

His recent work made him one of the country's most respected authorities on religion, politics, and the emotional issues of our time. WALKING THE BIBLE describes his perilous, 10,000-mile journey retracing the Five Books of Moses through the desert. The book was hailed as an "instant classic" by the Washington Post and "thoughtful, informed, and perceptive" by The New York Times. It spent more than a year and a half on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into fifteen languages, and is the subject of a children's book and a photography book.

ABRAHAM recounts his personal search for the shared ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. "Exquisitely written," wrote the Boston Globe, "100 percent engaging." The book was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, became a runaway New York Times bestseller, and inspired thousands of grassroots interfaith discussions.

WHERE GOD WAS BORN describes his year-long trek retracing the Bible through Israel, Iraq, and Iran. "Bruce Feiler is a real-life Indiana Jones," wrote the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. AMERICA'S PROPHET recounts his unprecedented journey through American history - from the pilgrims to the founding fathers, the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement - exploring how the Exodus is America's greatest story and Moses is our true founding father. Both were New York Times bestsellers.

In 2006, PBS aired the miniseries WALKING THE BIBLE that received record ratings and was viewed by 20 million people in its first month. "Beguiling," wrote the Wall Street Journal. "Mr. Feiler is an engaging and informed guide."

Bruce Feiler has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Gourmet, where he won three James Beard Awards. He is also a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, CNN, and Fox News. He has been the subject of Jay Leno joke and a JEOPARDY! question, and his face appears on a postage stamp in the Grenadines.

His latest book, THE COUNCIL OF DADS: My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me, describes how he responded to a diagnosis of cancer by asking six men from all passages of his life to be present through the passages of his young daughters's lives. "I believe my daughters will have plenty of opportunities in their lives," he wrote these men. "They'll have loving families. They'll have each other. But they may not have me. They may not have their dad. Will you help be their dad?"

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Bruce Feiler lives in New York with wife, Linda Rottenberg, and their twin daughters. For more information, please visit www.brucefeiler.com.

 

Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Feiler accurately captures the feel of circus life., October 22, 1997
By 
rfort@ukans.edu (Lawrence, Kansas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Under the Big Top: A Season with the Circus (Hardcover)
I just finished Feiler's "Under the Big Top" and my first thought was "I wish I could contact this guy and compare notes." I joined Ringling Brothers on a lark in '82, and his descriptions of travelling with the circus brought back feelings and memories I hadn't had in a long time. From the descriptions of the social fabric (yes, there is a very real class structure) to the smell of the lot where the animals are kept (not unpleasant) to the dangers, and the thrills of watching the performers every night, he has DONE it. If you want to know what it's really like to join the circus, but aren't feeling quite that romantic, read this book.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An Exciting, Well-Written, and Often Dramatic Read, April 5, 2003
By 
Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
Whatever your opinions are of American circuses, whether or not you wince at the spectacle or get angry at the use of animals for entertainment, chances are you have a treasured childhood memory of being there in the stands. Whether it was a kind and jovial clown, a dazzling trapeze act or the courage of a lion tamer, you were probably amazed by the magic and mystery of the big top.

Bruce Feiler, acclaimed author of ABRAHAM and WALKING THE BIBLE, was also fascinated. And, like the old saying goes, "he ran away with the circus." For one season Feiler traveled with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus, recording both his experience as a writer and performing as a clown. The result is UNDER THE BIG TOP, an informative and very readable look at circus life, culture and history.

Feiler's status in the circus was unique. All the circus employees knew he was writing a book about them, but he was also allowed to travel as a performer. Thus the perspective of this book is unique, both insider and outsider. As an outsider (which on most levels, he always remains), Feiler explains the historical development of the circus and its acts, divulges the reality behind the seemingly miraculous feats of daring and discusses the circus as a business --- its marketing strategies and day-to- day operations. Here the narrative is interesting and enlightening: who knew how many phrases in American English such as "hold your horses" and "get this show on the road" originated with the circus? This view of the circus reveals the lives and talents of hard-working professionals, generations of performers and those misfits and adventurers who join the circus for various reasons, all working together to put on a grueling and dangerous show several times a day, day after day, for months on end.

As an insider, a performing clown called "Ruff Draft," Feiler came to understand the hierarchy of the circus, its code of conduct and the nature of its tiring work and demanding schedule. He also learned what happens after the show, when the big top is dark and gained insight into the personal lives of those people who make the circus possible. Those Feiler met and came to know during his season traveling with them are real people behind the spangles and stereotypes. Feiler contends the circus is a microcosm of America, a diverse group of 200 people representing several ethnicities, religions and nationalities. This, he suggests, is helpful to keep in mind when trying to understand how a group often seen as marginal to the American mainstream is so important to American culture. The circus workers and performers are not so marginal after all because, despite all the glitter and spectacle, they reflect the diversity of American culture --- they understand the audience much better than the audience understands them. Furthermore, the circus itself is often a defining childhood moment and those who create it, despite their career and mobile lifestyle, share much with Americans who work traditional jobs and don't live in trailers and fifth wheels.

At all times, Feiler is respectful of his subject and is careful to present their normality in the midst of the fantastic work they do. Feiler doesn't neglect to mention the issue of animal rights, but he refrains from taking sides on the issue. Instead, he presents the treatment of animals in the circus he traveled with as well as the opposition they faced in several towns and cities, leaving readers free to draw their own conclusions.

The big top, as experienced by Feiler seems to be a wonderful and dramatic place of old world values and close-knit ranks. In turn, UNDER THE BIG TOP is an exciting, often dramatic, read. It is a special glimpse into a subculture few understand but many derive pleasure from. This book is a well-written and very honest portrayal of the circus and those who compose and orchestrate it, yet it is still a fun read. The author's season with the circus was a whirlwind of excitement and devastation. With UNDER THE BIG TOP, Feiler brings the reader one step closer to life under the tent, in the spotlight and behind the scenes.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Colourful, humorous, and fascinating glimpse of the secret lives of the circus..., January 26, 2006
I first discovered Bruce Feiler from reading his "Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan" in preparation for the JET Program. Being a longtime fan of the circus, when I saw "Under the Big Top," I couldn't resist. Bruce's humorous writing style (think an overeducated Dave Barry - Feiler has degrees from Yale and Cambridge) chronicles a season spent with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus, the largest tented circus in the world. He cleverly works in the fact that most circus novels (he makes thinly veiled references to Angela Carter's "Nights at the Circus" and Katherine Dunn's "Geek Love") deal with the fantastic (half-swan half-woman) and horrific (circus freaks seeking revenge), but not the day-to-day lives of the performers and crew (one notable exception is the excellent "The Circus In Winter" by Cathy Day).

Bruce acts on his lifelong desire to be a clown (he had a previous history of theatre at Yale and of miming), and is tossed into the testosterone-fuelled world of the circus's Clown Alley, where he meets an assortment of lively characters (most with criminal records) and some sexual deviants. He quickly becomes acquainted with his circus "family": the performers (acrobats, lion tamers, human cannonball), and brings the reader along on a fascinating journey into a vanishing world (confrontations with animal rights groups become more and more frequent as the season progresses). The narrative is slightly choppy, due to the present description of action in the ring that dissolves into a past narrative, then back, but "Under the Big Top" is sure to please young-at-heart fans of the circus with its menagerie of unique personalities and talents that would be out of place in the "real world."
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First Sentence:
"Before we start I want you all to know there's always a chance we might end up with a dead elephant ..." Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
elephant department, tented circus, ticket wagon, trailer line, flying act, circus lot, largest cannon, circus people, stake line, autograph party, circus star, big top, other clowns
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Little Pablo, Big Pablo, Big Man, Clown Alley, Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros, Jimmy James, Kris Kristo, Khris Allen, Sean Thomas, Human Cannonball, Mary Chris, Staten Island, New Jersey, Long Island, Angel Quiros, Douglas Holwadel, New England, North Carolina, Fred Logan, Kenneth Feld, Ringling Brothers, South Carolina, Van Amburgh, Dawnita Bale
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