Book description
Looks at carnivals and circus midways, focusing on a variety of sideshow performers, including Melvin Burkhart, the Human Blockhead; Percilla the Monkey Girl and her husband Emmitt the Alligator Man; and Mortado, the Human Fountain.
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Why read it?
1 author picked James Taylor's Shocked and Amazed as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Published in 2002, I love this book for its personal interviews with performers and showmen from the latter half of the 20th century. It’s a chance to not just read about sideshow history, but to hear it straight from the mouths of such people like Jeanie Tomaini the Half Girl, Melvin Burkhart the Anatomical Wonder, and impresarios Ward Hall and Bobby Reynolds.
Plus, it’s filled with plenty of extraordinary photos.
From Dan and Marc's list on sideshow performers making the impossible possible.
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