Memoirs of a Sword Swallower

Rating:
Summary: Mannix's readers get the point!
Review: Mannix, who came to carnival life via the U.S. Naval Academy ("I didn't want to be a naval officer; I wanted to be a witch doctor!") and the Ivy League, brings his sideshow cohorts to life with this lively, witty, and sharp (sorry!) account that exudes a warmth as only a book written by an insider can. Mannix has always wanted to be a magician, and "runs away to the carnival" as an adult, first learning fire-eating when stepping in for fire-eater Flamo the Great who "exploded that night in front of Krinko's Great Combined Carnival Side Shows." He goes on to learn sword swallowing, sharing some of his insider's techniques (don't let the sharp tip touch the pit of your stomach; make sure the hilt doesn't come off and let the blade slide down your gullet.) If you are interested in the body on display, go ahead and read all the excellent academic pomo books about freaks and the "body as discourse," but be sure to read this one, too. It's an absolute gem. You will enjoy it to the hilt!

Rating:
Summary: Mannix's readers get the point!
Review: Mannix, who came to carnival life via the U.S. Naval Academy ("I didn't want to be a naval officer; I wanted to be a witch doctor!") and the Ivy League, brings his sideshow cohorts to life with this lively, witty, and sharp (sorry!) account that exudes a warmth as only a book written by an insider can. Mannix has always wanted to be a magician, and "runs away to the carnival" as an adult, first learning fire-eating when stepping in for fire-eater Flamo the Great who "exploded that night in front of Krinko's Great Combined Carnival Side Shows." He goes on to learn sword swallowing, sharing some of his insider's techniques (don't let the sharp tip touch the pit of your stomach; make sure the hilt doesn't come off and let the blade slide down your gullet.) If you are interested in the body on display, go ahead and read all the excellent academic pomo books about freaks and the "body as discourse," but be sure to read this one, too. It's an absolute gem. You will enjoy it to the hilt!

Rating:
Summary: It's a good read.
Review: Memoirs of a Sword Swallower is something of an underground classic, providing an introduction to the U.S travelling carnival scene during the '40s and '50s. Interested readers might also want to track down "Bed of Nails" by Michael Blondini and Gordon Thomas, which was published in London a few years after "Memoirs" and seems to be heavily cribbed from it.

Rating:
Summary: Side Show Secrets Revealed
Review: The sideshow was once a time honored tradition in the american heartland. Today the idea of the sideshow is old fashioned, boring nonsense because we've seen it all before on TV or in the movies. Mannix's book is so well written our minds are transformed to see the world as he did -- skeptical as heck but, with a mind open to learn the secrets required to make the impossible, possible. A terrific read.

Rating:
Summary: Side Show Secrets Revealed
Review: The sideshow was once a time honored tradition in the american heartland. Today the idea of the sideshow is old fashioned, boring nonsense because we've seen it all before on TV or in the movies. Mannix's book is so well written our minds are transformed to see the world as he did -- skeptical as heck but, with a mind open to learn the secrets required to make the impossible, possible. A terrific read.