Linda Simon (1) (1946–)

It is quite difficult to summarize this sprawl, but a place to start would be that it summarizes Americans' fraught relationship with electricity and the many inventions which eventuated therefrom during the nineteenth century. The first third of the book is a straightforward account of the career of Thomas A. Edison and the laboratory and many inventions which resulted, together with a look at his public image as it changed over the decades. Then the author takes us offroad as she proceeds to relate how ambivalent the nation was about adoption of the new technologies; they were slow to be adopted and their advent came with many an overwrought projection of the edenic progress or the disaster-prone hellscape which might ensue, sometimes interspersed with outright confusion as to what benefit they would afford to daily life.. All of this is continually linked to the period's propensity to looking at larger consequences which lurked in the twilight zone of the period where religion, metaphysics, pseudoscience, quackery, and the fringes of legitimate medicine met to give us such now-dated concepts as neurasthenia, mesmerism, Walt Whitman's Body Electric, reincarnation,spirit messaging, and many more. These were wildly popular not only with the common man; it's not easy to think of any of the century's public intellectuals who didn't exhibit a certain buyin or at least interest in these concepts. 'All of this is interspersed with liberal dollops of literary criticism (she's an English professor, after all). Some of these are interesting and instructive; most are not. Other than that I enjoyed the book and it gave me a lot to think about.… (more)

I would imagine it's difficult to write a strictly-chronological history of the circus because there are so many different facets that developed along different timelines. As such, Simon breaks out a variety of facets into individual histories. The roots of the circus as an equestrian showcase, The Greatest Shows on Earth, acrobats, animals, clowns, tricks & performances, and human oddities. Other reviewers have noted the abundance of names Simon mentions along the way, and I agree that those can get in the way of a strong narrative throughline for each of the chapters. Instead, the book reads in two ways.

First, it feels like a book researched and written by a scholar for a more general audience. If this is the case, I think Simon can't help herself but drop the names of minor historical figures she ran across as part of her research. This tendency is probably out of respect for the value and quality of her source material (which I can appreciate), but it really bogs down any narrative momentum she manages to generate.

The other way to read this book is as a starter text for people who want a light, historical overview of different facets of the circus. For instance, I came to this book wanting to learn more about circus clowns. The info was pretty good, but Simon seems stuck between covering several different influential clowns and offering us a more thorough description/analysis of any given performer. That's pretty common for a text meant as an introduction to a topic, so I don't see it as a flaw.

My biggest disappointment with this book is that I was hoping Simon might pay more attention to the everyday lives of the circus performers. There's virtually none of that. Again, I don't think that was ever Simon's intent, so it's not a flaw.

Overall, a good introduction to circus history with decent coverage of different elements that make up the spectacle of the circus.… (more)

Though the book without the end notes is only 299 pages, I read it very slowly over the several weeks and really enjoyed it. The book was well-researched, interesting, and entertaining. I also loved its massive bibliography.

When I started the book, I'd just been reading about all the worries of 5G technology... Reading that the Victorians were worried the lightbulb would make them blind, I wondered if our fears would come to nothing as well. I finished the book during the first week of America's COVID-19 crisis and felt like I could reread the whole thing with a totally different perspective.

I enjoyed learning about Frank Mesmer---from which the term "mesmerize" came. Reading about the crazy uses for magnets (which I put no faith in, by the way) reminded me of our elderly high school Spanish teacher (probably with Jesus for awhile now) who would do home demonstrations with the magnetic socks, arm bands, etc. she was selling as a side job in the 90s. So funny.

It was neat to read that these early inventors admired the teachings of 18th c. scientist Michael Faraday as my 13-year-old daughter is reading his lectures on the chemical history of a candle now.

I thought the chapters on hypnotism were the most interesting, though I don't believe in it for a minute. Ha! I don't think Dickens' wife was being "passively hypnotised". He was a cheater and she knew it and probably did whatever she could to get his attention.

Lots of funny stuff... Wacky Victorian fiction featuring creepy uses for electricity (reviving the dead, reanimating severed body parts, etc). Oh, and x-rays as entertainment! Yikes! Several interesting-sounding Victorian era books were mentioned---I'll have to see what I can find.

Overall, it was a great read and I'm happy I spent the time.… (more)