Nonfiction November 2: A Freak Show Expert

Week 2's Nonfiction November prompt is hosted by Leslie at Regular Rumination. Freak Shows are about to (re)become remarkably popular due to the release of the newest American Horror Story - Freak Show. I am no exception. No matter the "correctness" of it, I am fascinated, and so for Nonfiction November's Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert I thought I would look up - and hopefully read - some of the top books on Freak Shows.

First, the prompt:

Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert).

I started an Essentials List on Barnes and Noble for all the books I found. Here are a few of the most promising, whether due to subject matter or price (it's crazy how expensive some of these books are!):

Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit
Robert Bodgan, 1990
Robert Bogdan's fascinating social history brings to life the world of the freak show and explores the culture that nurtured and, later, abandoned it. In uncovering this neglected chapter of show business, he describes in detail the flimflam artistry behind the shows, the promoters and the audiences, and the gradual evolution of public opinion from awe to embarrassment. I read this one last month and put up my review last week.

Jay's Journals of Anomalies
Ricky Jay, 2003
The multitalented Ricky Jay (sleight-of-hand artist, actor, author, and scholar of the unusual) wrote and published a unique and beautifully designed quarterly called Jay's Journal of Anomalies. Already coveted collector's items, the sixteen issues are now gathered here in a complete set, with significant new material and illustrations. A brilliant excursion into the history of bizarre entertainments, the journal was described inThe New York Times as "beautiful and elegant...a combination of rigorous scholarship and personal rumination."

Circus and Carnival Ballyhoo: Sideshow Freaks, Jabbers and Blade Box Queens
A.W. Stencell, 2010
Here is the history of the North American side show at circuses and carnivals, along with the stories of freaks and other side show acts in other venues such as dime museums, store front shows, in vaudeville, on movie theatre stages — and even at touring whale shows. The book follows the development of the circus side show with interviews and stories from side show workers that explain the role of freaks, working acts, managers, and talkers — and explores how important grift was to circuses and how it became located inside the side show.

Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body
Rosamarie Garland Thomson, 1996
The book's essays fall into four main categories: historical explorations of American freak shows in the era of P.T. Barnum; the articulation of the freak in literary and textual discourses; contemporary relocations of freak shows; and theoretical analyses of freak culture. Essays address such diverse topics as American colonialism and public presentations of natives; laughing gas demonstrations in the 1840's; Shirley Temple and Tom Thumb; Todd Browning's landmark movie Freaks; bodybuilders as postmodern freaks; freaks in Star Trek; Michael Jackson's identification with the Elephant Man; and the modern talk show as a reconfiguration of the freak show. I'm reading this one right now. 

Freaks: We Who Are Not As Others
Daniel P. Mannix, 1999
Another long out of print classic book based on Mannix's personal acquaintance with sideshow stars. Read all about the notorious love affairs of midgets; the amazing story of the elephant boy; the unusual amours of Jolly Daisy; the fat woman; the famous pinhead who inspired Verdi's "Rigoletto"; the tragedy of Betty Lou Williams and her parasitic twin; the black midget, only 34 inches tall, who was happily married to a 264-pound wife; the human torso who could sew, crochet and type; and bizarre accounts of normal humans turned into freaks-either voluntarily or by evil design!

I also have a few online resources if you are interested:

• Freakshows in the United States - Disability Social History
• Freakshows - National Fairground Archive
• Freakshow Gallery - British Library
• Very Informative Article - things said and done blog
• The Human Marvels - actual discussions
• Cult of Weird - quick bios of some of the most popular "attractions"

There is, of course, A LOT more out there on this fascinating, taboo, socially and culturally relevant topic. I highly recommend reading about this controversial piece of history.

I couldn't settle on one topic for this prompt, so tomorrow I have a post going up about the original fairy tales; be sure to check it out!