American Sideshow (Paperback)

by Marc Hartzman (Author)
Key Phrases: sideshow career, armless girl, human blockhead, New York, Coney Island, The Silver Age (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
From the bearded women and half-men of the P.T. Barnum era to the bug-eating denizens of contemporary Coney Island, Hartzman leaves no circus tent unexplored in his history of freakish sideshow performers. The human curiosities, many of whom made a good living, are listed alphabetically within each chronological section and are accompanied by brief bios-based on sensationalist publicity for the older cases, and interviews with those still living-that include everything from anatomical details and medical explanations to minutiae about performers' social lives: Myrtle Corbin, the four-legged woman, for instance, "had five children-three born from her own body, and two from her twin's." "Insectavora," Coney Island's resident facial-tattooed bug-eater, "walks up a razor-sharp ladder of swords and is currently working on a whip-cracking act. During the off-season she works in a tattoo and body-piercing shop, and probably eats a more balanced diet." Hartzman's book succeeds as a curiosity-quencher, but not as a reference, as his source material, particularly for the early performers, is sketchy, but the book-and its marvelous collection of photos-will shock and amaze offbeat voyeurs.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description
A fascinating look into the history of the American sideshow and its performers. Learn what's real, what's fake, and what's just downright bizarre.

You've probably heard of Tom Thumb. The Elephant Man. Perhaps even Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins. But what about Eli Bowen, the legless acrobat? Or Prince Randian, the human torso? These were just a few of the many stars that shone during the heyday of the American sideshow, from 1840 to 1950. American Sideshow chronicles the lives of truly amazing performers, examining these brave and extraordinary curiosities not just as sideshow performers but as people, delving into the lives they led and the ways they were able to triumph over and even benefit from their abnormalities.

American Sideshow discusses the rise and fall of the original sideshows and their subsequent replacement by today's self-made freaks. With the progress of modern medicine, technological advancements, and the wonderful world of body modification, abnormalities are being overcome, treated and even prevented: Siamese twins can now be separated, and in addition to this, tongues can be forked, horns surgically implanted, and earlobes removed. There are also, of course, modern-day giants, fire eaters, sword swallowers, glass eaters, human blockheads, and oh, so much more.

These fascinating personalities are celebrated through intimate biographies paired with stunning photographs. Approximately two hundred performers from the past one hundred and sixty years are featured, giving readers a comprehensive and sometimes astonishing look into the history of the American sideshow

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (September 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585425303
• ISBN-13: 978-1585425303
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #252,327 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling encyclopedia of fascinating people, more context would have been great, July 11, 2006

By	Suzanne Amara (MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: American Sideshow : An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers (Hardcover)

This book makes fascinating reading. It's mainly done in an encyclopedia style, with entries for many, many people who chose to exhibit their unusual features or talents. The author obviously feel strongly that they have a right to do so, and shows much caring and respect for them. I really liked how he followed their lives all the way through if he could find the information, so they were presented as people and not just shows.

However, I would have really liked a little more context with the listing---more information about sideshows in general and more perspective on the listings. I did like the sidebars here and there, but it would have been great to read more about life in general for all the performers--what it was like to travel with a sideshow, what the people watching the shows acted like, etc.

I also found the humor inserted in almost every listing a little forced, and not in keeping with the general respectful tone of the book. There were lots of little puns and silly jokes, which didn't add much and were a distraction.

I found the last section of the book, about present day shows and performers, to not really fit with the rest of the book. These performers almost all just do odd and bizarre things, as opposed to having odd and bizarre things thrust upon them. I think it's a very different thing to CHOOSE to be odd and bizarre as opposed to making the best of a life where you already are.

It sounds like I liked this book much less than I did. I really did find it an interesting and caring survey of a group of people political correctness often prefers not to talk about. It's ironic that this same attitude probably keeps many people on public assistance, instead of making them extremely rich as many of these performers became!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What A Great Look Back In History!, December 5, 2005

By	Ses Carny (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers (Hardcover)

Hello. My name is Ses Carny. I am only one of the many modern day sideshow performers that Marc interviewed for this book. When I got my copy I was very happily surprised at the fondness found in the pages. Most books about the sideshow performers are somewhat degrading to the acts. BUT NOT WITH AMERICAN SIDESHOW! Marc really went above and beyond to bring out the truth about the performers, both past and present. We are not monsters, or people to feel sorry for. Marc has certainly brought a level of dignity, that has not been found published before, to the acts of the sideshow. Thank you Marc for writing such a fantastic book! I am looking forward to your next venture greatly!

Ses
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alive on the Inside, November 26, 2005

By	James G. Mundie (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers (Hardcover)

Marc Hartzman has undertaken an ambitious project: a chronicle of those showfolks who performed in America's sideshows from circa 1830 to the present. Starting with the golden era under P.T. Barnum, Hartzman gives the reader brief biographical introductions to these unusual performers. Hartzman's prose offers a good humored look at the place where truth and hype converge in the lives of these human oddities. The text is accompanied by rare photographs from the author's and other collections (including that of yours truly).

I find it gratifying that whereas most books focus on sideshow's illustrious (or dubious) past, Hartzman also takes time to acknowledge the contemporary performers and showmen keeping the tradition alive out there on the sawdust trail.

The short, the tall, the fat, the tattooed, the conjoined, the hirsute, the limbless: they're all here to discover inside Hartzman's tent.