American Sideshow by Marc Hartzman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of American Sideshow
Book Review: A missed opportunity
Summary: 3 Stars
Here's a classic example of a book that starts promisingly, descends to tedium, and eventually runs completely off the rails. One big problem is that the author never seems to get a focus on what the book is supposed to be about. Is it a history of sideshows, or is it an encyclopedia of sideshow exhibits? Turning to sideshow exhibits, is the focus supposed to be on fairly ordinary people who happen to lie on the extremes of the bell distributions of height or weight, or is it supposed to be about so-called "freaks," people who bravely cope with birth defects often too horrific to contemplate? Most problematic of all, is the book about people turned into sideshow exhibits by genetics or accidents of the gestation process, or is it about strange individuals who deliberately turn themselves into "freaks" by surgery, mutilation and processes such as whole-body tattoos?
True, the sideshows featured magicians side by side with beautiful women born without arms, jugglers side by side with beautiful women born without bones, fire-eaters and contortionists and tattooed ladies side by side with beautiful women who were 15 inches tall or joined to a twin at the hip or sporting a beard two feet long. But there's a big difference!
The author seems particularly fascinated with giants and with fat ladies. The seemingly obsessive inclusion of nearly every tall man and overweight woman exhibited in the US from the 1840s to the present doesn't leave a lot of (or any) room for some of the really strange individuals, nor does it leave much space for discussing anyone... a typical entry is about a page and a half.
This is the type of book which winds up remaindered very quickly... and that's how I found it.
Book Review: American Sideshow
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is just what it says it is: an encyclopedia for sideshow freaks. I don't consider all the people in the book as "freaks." They are, however, different than the rest of us and the book very interestingly describes their deformities or differences, and tells a brief story of their lives, complete with birth and death dates, when available. I found it to be educational and extremely interesting. One of those books I couldn't put down! I grew up around a person who was born with extreme deformities, but that person was never in a sideshow, and he isn't in this book, of course. Because of living around that person (my dad's hired hand), I never discriminated against people who are "different" and I used to get very angry at people who stared at him. This book makes one realize that these people who are different have real lives, just like the rest of us.Book Review: Go ahead and STARE!
Summary: 4 Stars
In the Old days the "freaks" didn't have the talk show circuit, they had very few options given to them to make money. If you were born deformed you could either shut yourself up in your house, or join the circus. Back then there wasn't any political correctness, if you had giant growths on your face you were "the ugliest woman", if you weighed over 400 pounds you were the "jolliest fattest person alive" It was all about exploiting your abnormalities to the fullest. It is human nature to be curious about those among us that are different, even shocking in appearance. We try not to stare in public, so when these shows came around it was our opportunity to get an eyeful and not feel guilty. Many times these performers were sold as children by their parents, because it was good money and it got rid of the burden the sideshows became permanent homes for the "orphans". These days disorders and diseases like gigantism, Ichthyosis (alligator skin), even conjoined twins have treatments or solutions for recovery. A lot of the thalidomide babies are grown up and have moved onto normal lives, dwarfism has its own community and they want to be seen as more than an oddity.
This book gives us a rare insight to all the people, big or small, who put themselves on display for entertainment purposes. It's laid out in a certain timeline, with each performer getting a mini biography and a picture; it was fascinating to learn about their origins and what happened to them after the sideshow life. I thought it was interesting that men who were cross dressers were billed as hermaphrodites dressing up one half man one half women, and males who had parasitic twins were made to have that "twin" a female no matter what. Many owners hyped up their performers, blatantly lying to the public to give them more of an exotic feel. Two albino black men with dreadlocks were Albanian goat men. Even a famous "Chinese" dwarf, was rumored to be a Jewish guy dressed up.
The book is really informative; I was glued to it for days. The only thing I have to complain about has nothing to do with the book itself, but rather the state of "sideshows" today. Now it's mostly about "Human Marvels" or "self made freaks" and less about physical deformities. The Modern section was FULL of tattooed, sword swallowing, pierced, bug eaters. To me that's just not entertaining, if you go and choose to become a "freak" I really don't care about seeing you. I went and saw the Jim Rose Circus when it came through town in the early 90's, and I wasn't impressed by what I saw.
Book Review: Good Read
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is well written, full of information on the lives of these unfortunate people and shows them a dignity they deserve.Book Review: Good book
Summary: 4 Stars
There were some good information and some pictures in this book, however, I felt they covered so many performers that there wasn't enough information about those who were covered. Still a good read.
More American Sideshow reviews:
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