Description
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 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
About the Author
ABC News has called Marc Hartzman "one of America's leading connoisseurs of the bizarre" and George Noory from Coast to Coast AM said he's "as bizarre as Robert Ripley." Hartzman considers both high praise since his passion for the unusual started with Ripley's Believe It Or Not and the annual Guinness World Records books during his youth.In addition to his books about UFOs, ghosts, Mars, Oliver Cromwell's embalmed head, weird things on eBay, sideshow performers, and unorthodox messages from God, Hartzman has written for Mental Floss, HuffPost, AOL Weird News, All That's Interesting, The Morbid Anatomy Online Journal, and Bizarre magazine. He's discussed oddities on CNN, MSNBC, Ripley’s Radio, History Channel’s The UnXplained, Xploration Outer Space, the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum, and dozens of podcasts. Hartzman has also been a featured speaker at a various of events for a range of audiences, including the Explore Mars Humans to Mars Summit in Washington, D.C., the Coney Island Congress of Curious Peoples, New York ComicCon, the Exeter UFO Festival, and the Brooklyn Historical Society.More of his love for the unusual can be found online at Weird Historian. Outside of these projects, Hartzman earns a living as an award-winning advertising creative director.
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