Linda Simon

I would imagine it's difficult to write a strictly-chronological history of the circus because there are so many different facets that developed along different timelines. As such, Simon breaks out a variety of facets into individual histories. The roots of the circus as an equestrian showcase, The Greatest Shows on Earth, acrobats, animals, clowns, tricks & performances, and human oddities. Other reviewers have noted the abundance of names Simon mentions along the way, and I agree that those can get in the way of a strong narrative throughline for each of the chapters. Instead, the book reads in two ways.

First, it feels like a book researched and written by a scholar for a more general audience. If this is the case, I think Simon can't help herself but drop the names of minor historical figures she ran across as part of her research. This tendency is probably out of respect for the value and quality of her source material (which I can appreciate), but it really bogs down any narrative momentum she manages to generate.

The other way to read this book is as a starter text for people who want a light, historical overview of different facets of the circus. For instance, I came to this book wanting to learn more about circus clowns. The info was pretty good, but Simon seems stuck between covering several different influential clowns and offering us a more thorough description/analysis of any given performer. That's pretty common for a text meant as an introduction to a topic, so I don't see it as a flaw.

My biggest disappointment with this book is that I was hoping Simon might pay more attention to the everyday lives of the circus performers. There's virtually none of that. Again, I don't think that was ever Simon's intent, so it's not a flaw.

Overall, a good introduction to circus history with decent coverage of different elements that make up the spectacle of the circus.… (meer)

Though the book without the end notes is only 299 pages, I read it very slowly over the several weeks and really enjoyed it. The book was well-researched, interesting, and entertaining. I also loved its massive bibliography.

When I started the book, I'd just been reading about all the worries of 5G technology... Reading that the Victorians were worried the lightbulb would make them blind, I wondered if our fears would come to nothing as well. I finished the book during the first week of America's COVID-19 crisis and felt like I could reread the whole thing with a totally different perspective.

I enjoyed learning about Frank Mesmer---from which the term "mesmerize" came. Reading about the crazy uses for magnets (which I put no faith in, by the way) reminded me of our elderly high school Spanish teacher (probably with Jesus for awhile now) who would do home demonstrations with the magnetic socks, arm bands, etc. she was selling as a side job in the 90s. So funny.

It was neat to read that these early inventors admired the teachings of 18th c. scientist Michael Faraday as my 13-year-old daughter is reading his lectures on the chemical history of a candle now.

I thought the chapters on hypnotism were the most interesting, though I don't believe in it for a minute. Ha! I don't think Dickens' wife was being "passively hypnotised". He was a cheater and she knew it and probably did whatever she could to get his attention.

Lots of funny stuff... Wacky Victorian fiction featuring creepy uses for electricity (reviving the dead, reanimating severed body parts, etc). Oh, and x-rays as entertainment! Yikes! Several interesting-sounding Victorian era books were mentioned---I'll have to see what I can find.

Overall, it was a great read and I'm happy I spent the time.… (meer)

It is important to come to this book with an awareness that the subtitle correctly tells you that it is about the 'origins' of the flapper, and that therefore one will be spending much more time at the turn of the last century than in the Roaring Twenties. The content is reasonably interesting, but is definitely geared toward literary criticism, which is not my personal cup of meat. And, though the author is a creative thinker who makes interesting connections, many of said connections are not especially intuitive; does one select a book on flappers, or even their origin, to read deep dives into the works of James Barrie and Daphne DuMaurier or Mark Twain's 'angelfish' harem of teen and tween girls of his last years? The book also spends considerable time on the conventional academic and popular wisdoms concerning sex role of the day, film, music, cartooning, and the suffragette movement, and I found these sections to be much more interesting.… (meer)