S. L. KotarBesprekingen

I can remember watching Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Maverick, Sugarfoot, The Deputy and other Westerns on television when I was young. Those programs and books of the same genre were favorites of my father and thus part of my early childhood. When I saw the offer to read and review the second book in the Hellhole Saga, a book written by co-writers for a well received episode of Gunsmoke, I had to ask for a copy. Thankfully I received one and also received the first in the series, too.

Claw Kiley is only 23 years old but much older than his years in life experiences…well in SOME life experiences. He is a big man in physique as well as in personality and heart. The writers have carefully crafted his character and background as well as those of other personalities in the story.

This first book in the series tells of Claw’s appointment as Marshall of Hellhole, Kansas and then tells of his arrival in town, how he settles in and of how he encounters the other players in town. There are a few gunfights and fistfights, a bank robbery and attempted jailbreak, some friends and enemies made, a potential romance, and a few puzzles to be solved. The main characters in this story are Claw, Cougar Bradburn – the saloon girl and Dr. Ward.

The writing is tight, descriptive, gritty and sometimes moody. The characters are very human and deal with life events in the best way they can in this town that sees the most of its activity when men come through with herds of cattle of hides of animals to be sold. And, as a side benefit, there are tidbits of history that prove interesting, educational and entertaining.½

This book was interesting. A little dry, it was hard to keep track of the names of the various subjects. It was also somewhat repetitive in it's information. But the subject matter was interesting, as were some of the anecdotes relayed about the various characters.

I tried. I really tried to like this book, but as other reviewers have written, the writing is very detailed and difficult to follow.

I enjoyed the illustrations from the earliest days of circus companies in America, but the text is so chock full of details, lists, names and places that it is hard to get a coherent overview.

"Now what I want is facts," declared Mr. Gradgrind, the schoolmaster in Dickens' novel Hard Times. Facts about the early history of the circus are, clearly, what S. L. Kotar and J. E. Gessler wanted, and if that's what you're in the market for, then this is the perfect book for you. Every small-type page is packed with facts: Names, dates, places, prices, acts -- on and on with one fact piled on another like bricks in a wall, and every one traced back (in the exhaustive notes) to the source from which they gleaned it. As a reference work . . . a chronicle . . . a compendium of facts about the subject, it's impressive and useful.

As a book -- something you'd actually want to sit down and read -- on the other hand, it's a total loss. The prose is so dense, so dry, so artless, so one-damn-thing-after-another that it's like chewing your way through milk-less Shredded Wheat. Readers with a serious interest in the history of the American circus and American popular entertainment in the 18-19C will find the lack of context and a big picture daunting. Everybody, serious interest or not, will likely find the lack of an overall narrative shape (beyond "Then this happened . . . ") daunting.

Histories like this tend to be the work of ferociously dedicated amateur historians, who produce them as labors of love. (Professionals, to be sure, can write dry, tedious books too -- but they tend to be dry and tedious in distinctly different ways.) The blurb suggests that Kotar and Gessler fit this pattern perfectly. And it's a shame -- even in a book defined by its seriousness of intent, a trip to the circus ought to be fun.

I certainly could not read in one sitting. Great dinner table reading if you read while you eat.

This book is an excellent reference on the history of the circus in England and in the United States. It is an exhaustive listing of names, places, playbills, performers, owners and other details. It will doubtless grace the shelves of many academic libraries.

It is, however, excrutiatingly boring to read. The authors have compiled a massive amount of data, but they have not really written a book of the sort one reads - there is neither academic commentary nor any expansion on the lists. Even potentially exciting events such as elephants falling through bridges are rendered in barely interesting prose.

If you want to know why the circus had such an influence in the United States or want to understand the experience of the circus from either the perspective of the audience or the performer, you will have to search out other books.

This book is worth owning by those who are passionate about circus history or those who need to find historic details about specific circuses or people. Otherwise, don't bother.½

If you're looking for an encyclopedia of American circus activities in the 18th and 19th centuries, then this book will do. But, if you're interested in the stories behind those that put the first American circuses together, then go somewhere else. This book feels like it was put together by doing a lot of Internet research and visiting the local library for access to public newspaper databases. It's an exhaustive listing of every circus that ever toured the US between 1716 and 1899 (and that's a whole lot). The transitions between topics and chapters is weak and disjointed. While some illustration are good (vintage photographs), many of them are shoddy reproductions from microfiche scans. This book could have been designed much better, but unfortunately it's a mish-mash of wasted opportunities. It makes me want to go out and find a real history on circuses to replace it with.½

The cover is charming, the idea brilliant and the research extraordinary. It's also filled with wonderful photos, drawings and images that I've looked at time and again.
The problem here is the writing. "The Rise of the American Circus" reads much more like a textbook than a compelling history, which it could have and should have been.
What a magical, mysterious and odd world the early circuses must have been! Yet here, it simply drags. There are a few interesting scenes, but for the most part the writing is long-winded and uninspiring.
I SO wanted to like this book, but I every time I began reading I felt like I was back in high school, forced to review material that was painfully boring.
I gave it three stars for the research and illustrations, but I cannot imagine many readers who will fall in love with this book.

The Rise of the American Circus 1716-1899 is a well-researched, exhaustive look at every aspect of the world of the circus and how it came to be. The arid, sere, parched, dryness of the narrative keeps it from being a popularized history, however it would be a useful tool for the researcher. Every aspect of the evolution of the circus is discussed in detail from the various acts, the animals and the commercial development. It is regrettable that the history of something as fun and exciting as a circus could not have been a more entertaining read.

I really wanted to like this book but the authors writing style was mind numbingly boring. While the research seemed exhaustive the authors never do anything with it. There is no discernable narrative and at times it is nothing more than lists of wages, prices and events. There was better information contained in the caption of the many illustrations so I give it two stars based on that. Very dissapointing.

A very particular topic, to be sure. Though I imagine myself to be more interested in this topic than most readers, I had a hard time getting through the beginning of the book. I ended up skimming the first hundred fifty pages or so. Basically, until you get to the section on the mid-1800s, the book is fairly dry.
The research behind the book is impressive and exhaustive, but is presented in such a dry fashion that it is hard to get interested. This book does have interesting stories and information but the chapters never build up enough momentum to carry a story. I imagine the book would only appeal to someone with a scholarly interest in the circus.

I have always had an interest in circuses, so when I got this book through Early Reviewers, I was pretty excited. This is a really specific time period, 1716-1899, but it's significant ---- it was interesting to read about how circuses changed through the decades, and how people's expectations of what circuses should be also changed.

I appreciate how much research the authors did on this book. There are plenty of illustrations scattered through the book, and the notes at the back are extensive.

I don't know if this is a book all readers would enjoy, but I found it to be well-written and informative and an interesting read.

A thoroughly written documentation of how the circus came to be, starting from the European influences and all the way to P.T. Barnum, etc. This will be a book future researchers will refer to; it is has a LOT of detail, so much in fact that attempting to keep up with the list of names of act after act after act can become a little overwhelming or at least confusing. Particularly in the first 100 or so pages it lacks any engaging narrative, it feels almost like a cataloging of what was found in various ephemera. Part of the consideration for the lack of approach-ability could be attributed to the scarcity of detail in the information of the menageries listed, and that may ward some more casual readers off. That is my suspicion anyway. After that initial hump, we get more biographical detail on the stand out acts that eventually grew into what we more commonly call the "circus". A book of necessary compiled information, but not for everyone maybe expecting a "greatest show on earth" type feel.

This books provided a detailed and complete history of the American Circus. I was amazed by how much I did not know. For instance, the fact that the circus originated in the 18th Century theaters and menageries. The authors provided a unique and interesting point of view on an area that is not only a great American entertainment but a unique and vibrant sub-culture as well. This book was very interesting