3 h 45 minAudiobook11 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 3 h 45 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Behind the circus canvas, wild animals draw crowds, hustlers make promises, and a good story grows with every telling.
In Side Show Studies, Francis Metcalfe takes you into the circus and carnival midway. The big top is a world of its own: a moving town with workers, rules, language and a pecking order. Performers, showmen and animals share a life built around drawing a crowd.
The book moves from the big top to the wild animals, the midway hustlers and the tales behind the legends. Lions, tigers and elephants draw people who have never seen them. Barkers promise wonders, games prove hard to win, and showmen's stories blur the line between fact and advertising.
What you’ll discover
- A town beneath canvas Step into a traveling world whose workers have their own rules, language and ranks.
- Animals at the center Meet the lions, tigers and elephants that bring unfamiliar sights to small towns.
- The midway's tempting promises Follow the barkers' calls toward tents and contests that are harder to win than they seem.
- Stories that keep growing Explore showmen's tales in which a strong pitch can make the truth hard to find.
- Behind the public spectacle Look beyond the attractions to the people and work that hold a traveling show together.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy tall tales told over a drink, circus and carnival lore, and the animals and showmen of old Coney Island will feel at home here. It also suits anyone who likes a comic story with a sting.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Three men at a table in Dreamland
- Snakes and lions bring out the tall tales
- Animals have moods and long memories
- Escapes, feuds and the war for headlines
- Truth, fraud and the price of a sensation
- How the tales are told
Who’s who
- The ProprietorThe owner of the trained-animal show at Dreamland. He is scarred, practical and shrewd, and he counts every accident in dollars.
- The Press AgentThe show's publicist, who tells comic yarns about his old partner Merritt and wants stories the newspapers will print.
- The StrangerThe visitor at the table. He asks the questions, believes the stories and watches the animals with fresh eyes.
- MerrittThe Press Agent's old partner, a loud dresser and inventor of fake species, who dreams up one scheme after another.
- Madame MorelliA small, fearless trainer of leopards, panthers and jaguars, who whips a loose jaguar back into his cage.
- Jack BonavitaA lion trainer who works with groups of lions, and who is badly hurt by the bad lion Baltimore.
- BranduThe snake charmer from India who handles the cobra and feeds the great boas and pythons at Dreamland.
- Tody HamiltonThe Barnum circus press agent, called the Colonel, who fights a war of white elephants for headlines.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 3 h 45 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 11 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Studien aus der Sideshow in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Studien aus der Sideshow
A loose jaguar, a painted python and a bleached elephant keep three men talking at Coney Island's Dreamland.
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In short
Side Show Studies is a set of linked tales by Francis Metcalfe, set in the animal show at Dreamland, the amusement park at Coney Island, in the early years of the twentieth century. Each night, after the last performance, three men sit at a white-topped table in front of the Arena.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Three men at a table in Dreamland
The book begins inside the Arena at Dreamland, where a trained-animal show plays to Coney Island crowds beside a brass band and the shouting of spielers. The Proprietor is calm and practical, and he is always counting what an accident will cost him. The Stranger notices small things, such as the sudden hurry among the keepers. The Press Agent is cheerful, a little shameless and always hunting for a story the newspapers will print. Their talk after each show forms the frame for everything that follows.
The first scene is an escape. Madame Morelli has just put ten leopards, panthers and jaguars through their act, but a careless carpenter has left a board loose above the den. Franz the jaguar slips out onto the top of the cages. The Proprietor meets him in the runway and comes away with three deep scratches on his head. A quiet man named Stevenson nails boards over the vents, and the audience never learns what is happening behind the scenes.
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What is Side Show Studies about?
It follows three men at a café table at Dreamland, Coney Island. The Proprietor tells of animal trainers and wild beasts, and the Press Agent tells of fakers and freak shows, in linked comic tales.
Who are Merritt and Jim in Side Show Studies?
Merritt is the Press Agent's old partner, a loud-dressing inventor of fake wonders. Jim is the partner who tells or hears the story. Their schemes run through snake shows and dime museums in many tales.
Is Side Show Studies a true story?
It mixes real names and places, such as Dreamland, Barnum and Tody Hamilton, with tall tales. The Proprietor presents his stories as fact, while the Press Agent's yarns are clearly comic exaggeration for the reader's enjoyment.
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