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In addition to formal surveys, hundreds of memoirs by American circus performers have been published in the last two hundred years. I don’t pretend to have read even a substantial sampling of these, but several of the ones I did read stand out as the most charming of all the circus books I examined. I particularly recommend Bill Ballantine’s Wild Tigers and Tame Fleas (Rinehart), Fred Bradna’s The Big Top (Simon and Schuster), and Co
Finally, as much as I love them, books can only hope to intimate and illuminate the immediate sensation of viewing a circus in person. While the American circus is hardly in jeopardy of dying, it is changing in response to the pressures of the times. If this book has rekindled any memories of your own, go see a circus next time one comes to town and in so doing help keep the dream alive.
Author’s Note
This book, like a circus, contains two parallel stories. One centers on the daily life of the show as it proceeds through the season; the other, woven throughout, focuses on the performance as it proceeds through each act. In circus tradition this ru
About the Author
BRUCE FEILER is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including Learning to Bow, Walking the Bible, and Abraham. A contributor to National Public Radio, he writes for the New York Times, Washington Post, and Gourmet. A native of Sava
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P RAISE FOR B RUCE F EILER and Under the Big Top
“What a splendid book—fu
—Tim O’Brien, author of In the Lake of the Woods
“Feiler’s unglossed account of the season is complete with animal rights protesters, sin, sex, sawdust, camaraderie, and personal revelation. ‘So now you know,’ the ringmaster tells him after his last performance. And now we know, too.”
—Miami Herald
“Incredible…. Exciting…. Unbelievable…. Your view of the big top will never be the same.”
—Chattanooga Free Press
“What makes Under the Big Top a page-turner is Feiler’s eye for detail and his ability to be part of the action but also outside of it.”
—Detroit Free Press
“As irresistible as cotton candy, as attention grabbing as the death-defying trapeze act.”
—Indianapolis Star
“In the age-old tradition of truth coming from the mouth of a fool, this clown’s rendition of circus life bounds with humanity.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Feiler, a superb narrator and storyteller with a gentle, ironic sense of humor, also possesses a potent intellect that at moments blazes forth, illuminating everything in its path.”
—Washington Post Book World
“A mud-and sweat-filled, but ultimately loving, portrait of the circus.”
—New York Post
ALSO BY BRUCE FEILER
Learning to Bow:
Inside the Heart of Japan
Looking for Class:
Days and Nights at Oxford and Cambridge
Dreaming Out Loud:
Garth Brooks, Wyno
and the Changing Face of Nashville
Walking the Bible:
A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses
Abraham:
A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths
Copyright
UNDER THE BIG TOP Copyright © 2007 by Bruce Feiler. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © JULY 2007 ISBN: 9780061856709
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