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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 bizarreA 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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Previews available in: English
Subjects
Circus, Circus performers, Dictionaries, Human Abnormalities, New Age, Nonfiction, SideshowsPlaces
United StatesShowing 5 featured editions. View all 5 editions?
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American sideshow: an encyclopedia of history's most wondrous and curiously strange performers
2006, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin
in English
- 1st trade pbk. ed.
1585425303 9781585425303
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American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers
November 17, 2005, Tarcher
Hardcover
in English
1585424412 9781585424412
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American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers
2005-01-01, Tarcher
0739461966 9780739461969
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- Created April 30, 2008
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April 28, 2011 | Edited by OCLC Bot | Added OCLC numbers. |
August 10, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
April 30, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record. |