Rating: 
Summary: Riveting and Haunting
Review: A very thorough account of the Circus Fire in Hartford in 1944. I was transported back to a time and place I never knew and felt as if I were there. I had heard of the unidentified little blonde girl, but thought I had read that she was indentified. After reading this, one is left wondering once again. I read this in one sitting and I would imagine you will also.
Rating:
Summary: The Show Did Not Go On
Review: Compelling story about the devistating effects of fire on women and children. Shows the lack of preparedness, back then, of the entire emergency system from fire department to hospital. Shows how an excellent fire investigator can 'peel back the onion' and finds information through good synthesis and analysis of the facts. Brings to bear the life safety issues of large public events.
Rating:
Summary: A keeper!
Review: I am sure that any decent writer who was willing to dig through the archives and old newspaper stories could have written a good book about the Hartford circus fire. For Stewart O'Nan however, that was not enough. He not only did the research that any author would do when writing about a historical event; he tracked down the survivors. That is what makes this book so good. The stories told by the survivors make the whole story much more personal and much more tragic. On top of all this, O'Nan's writing style is superb. As a novelist who usually deals in fiction he writes in a very engrossing manner that keeps the reader's interest from cover to cover. The chapters are divided by dates and O'Nan takes each of the several families he follows in detail from their preparations for the circus to the very end. Whether that end is death or recovery we get the whole story. In this way the reader is able to connect in a personal way with the victims. If they escaped we find out how they got out. If they required hospitalization we get the story of their recovery. If they are killed we are taken through the identification process and some of the funerals. O'Nan even follows two of the survivors into their careers as firemen. The reader is also treated to the inner politics of the Ringling family and the power struggle after the fire. Along the way we meet circus people who were indeed negligent, politicians who struggled to cover their own negligence, nurses, doctors, and lots of policemen. We also meet many heroes; many of them policemen and firemen just like on 9/11. O'Nan spares no detail but he never gets boring. The reader will also get a good feel for 1944. The circus was short on workers because of the war. Hartford's residents were prospering because of the war industries. Gas and food ration stamps were so precious that the police were amazed that so many people turned in stamp books found on the midway or still in the smoldering big top. This book is just simply fascinating all the way around. Finally, O'Nan takes the reader up to 1999, Fifty-five years after the fire. That fifty-five years brings new investigations, new theories, new suspects, and the end of Ringling Brothers' days as a tent show. In 1994 there is a touching fifty-year reunion of the survivors. To the very end, O'Nan handles the subject with dignity and grace. The subject matter is sorrowful and you will be moved close to tears, but I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A keeper!
Review: I am sure that any decent writer who was willing to dig through the archives and old newspaper stories could have written a good book about the Hartford circus fire. For Stewart O'Nan however, that was not enough. He not only did the research that any author would do when writing about a historical event; he tracked down the survivors. That is what makes this book so good. The stories told by the survivors make the whole story much more personal and much more tragic. On top of all this, O'Nan's writing style is superb. As a novelist who usually deals in fiction he writes in a very engrossing manner that keeps the reader's interest from cover to cover. The chapters are divided by dates and O'Nan takes each of the several families he follows in detail from their preparations for the circus to the very end. Whether that end is death or recovery we get the whole story. In this way the reader is able to connect in a personal way with the victims. If they escaped we find out how they got out. If they required hospitalization we get the story of their recovery. If they are killed we are taken through the identification process and some of the funerals. O'Nan even follows two of the survivors into their careers as firemen. The reader is also treated to the inner politics of the Ringling family and the power struggle after the fire. Along the way we meet circus people who were indeed negligent, politicians who struggled to cover their own negligence, nurses, doctors, and lots of policemen. We also meet many heroes; many of them policemen and firemen just like on 9/11. O'Nan spares no detail but he never gets boring. The reader will also get a good feel for 1944. The circus was short on workers because of the war. Hartford's residents were prospering because of the war industries. Gas and food ration stamps were so precious that the police were amazed that so many people turned in stamp books found on the midway or still in the smoldering big top. This book is just simply fascinating all the way around. Finally, O'Nan takes the reader up to 1999, Fifty-five years after the fire. That fifty-five years brings new investigations, new theories, new suspects, and the end of Ringling Brothers' days as a tent show. In 1994 there is a touching fifty-year reunion of the survivors. To the very end, O'Nan handles the subject with dignity and grace. The subject matter is sorrowful and you will be moved close to tears, but I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Horror at the Big Top
Review: I chose this book as a native of CT who had read newspaper articles about the Hartford circus fire over the years. This disaster was of a magnitude that kept it from being completely forgotten by CT residents, even after forty or fifty years had passed. As a child just getting into the habit of reading newspapers, I noted mentions of the tragedy at anniversaries and after the "solving" of the identity of a little girl known only as Miss 1565. Later, as an adult living far away from CT, I became even more intrigued about this monumental occurrence after reading a review of Mr. O'Nan's book. I resolved to buy the book and find out more about the circumstances of that warm July day.
It turned out that the book, aside from quenching my desire to be more informed about the circus fire, was an excellently researched and wonderfully composed read. The accounts of eye witnesses were plentiful and detailed, the statistics were clear and concise, and the phrases were turned in a way that was enjoyable to read, even despite the gruesome subject matter. Background from before the actual happening, minute details during the conflagration, and narrative of the many aspects of the aftermath were blended together in a non-fiction depiction which avoided the dryness of a historical tome. This was one of those books that I could not put down, reading it from start to finish in one day. My advice to Mr. O'Nan is to find another subject that you can present with equal depth and panache and my advice to a prospective reader is to grab this book and dive right in.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacularly Haunting!
Review: I first heard of the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire from an episode of Unsolved Mysteries whereby detectives were trying to discover the identity of Little Miss 1565. Although the television episode showed portions of the home movie and interviewed some of the people, this book gives more intimate details of the circus fire. Aerial photos of the blackened oval of what was left of the big top are especially haunting and bring to light the magnitude of the devastation. It is truly a miracle that so many survived.
Rating: 
Summary: History brought to life
Review: I grew up in Connecticut, so all my life on the anniversary of the Circus Fire, articles would appear in the local newspaper but never seemed to tell the whole story of what happened afterwards in the lives of those who were touched by this tragedy. Stewart O'Nan does a fantastic job of putting together many of the pieces of this disaster and does so in an interesting and informative way. The subject of the Circus Fire was always thought-provoking, as my dad had a chance to attend the circus that day and did not go . . . . I may never have existed if he had made the trip!
Rating: 
Summary: A complete disappointment
Review: It is difficult to believe that such a slow and dull book could be written about such a compelling subject. The reviewers who have lamented the short, choppy paragraphs that irritatingly jump from one scene to another, without benefit of full explanation or connection, are correct to scorn the overall poor writing that makes up this book. I had to read some paragraphs several times and even then didn't understand what I was reading. It was nearly impossible to picture most of the action in my mind, as it was mostly just a jumbled collection of facts and anecdotes that rambled on and on and on. The description of the fire itself drags on chaotically for fifty tedious pages, which incited one yawn after another. The book lacks any sense of focus and the author uses a very poor choice of words in many instances. For example, the narrative is littered with sentences like: "She made for the east exit..." Okay, fine, but did she run, walk, crawl, hop, skip, jump, or fly to the east exit? I just don't know what to picture there. The word "made" says nothing descriptive and is therefor about the worst word that could have been chosen. This type of problem occurs on every page of the book. I haven't read anything else the author has written, so I hate to be so critical. I wonder, however, why his editor didn't send his manuscript back to him with thousands of suggestions. I felt as if I was reading a very hastily-prepared early draft. I have read many gripping books about disasters and survival situations. This just isn't one of them. Compare "The Circus Fire" to "Into Thin Air," "Heart of the Sea," "Batavia's Graveyard," or "Ordeal by Hunger" and you'll understand what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Saddest Things I Ever Read
Review: My feelings about this book are admittedly mixed. On the one hand, I thought it was a tautly written and naturally compelling story-- one whose facts were so gripping that O'Nan had a lot of his work done for him already. On the other hand, I can't remember the last time I cried so much when reading a book. The thought of adults trampling over women and children and leaving them huddled on the floor to burn to death is horrific. The ordeal experienced by both victors and survivors is so painstakingly recounted that those who are faint of heart will hardly be able to bear the pain. And, as if that's not enough, there are some truly grisly descriptions of what the bodies recovered from inside the tent looked like. At this point in the book, I wondered if O'Nan was really as "humane" as other reviewers have made him out to be, although I confess that I kept reading. There are some details in this book that redeem its exploitativeness somewhat. The stories of the heroes-- both those who lost their lives in the fire and the police officers and detectives who kept case files open for years afterwards-- lend depth and hope to "The Circus Fire." But to imagine all of those children who lost their parents, or parents who lost their children, left me sleepless for nights after reading this book. I don't know if something so disturbing warrants a full 5 stars, so I'm going to give this four stars and one warning bell (for the reader whose sensibilities are as delicate as mine).
Rating:
Summary: Riveting Story
Review: The Circus Fire by Stewart O'Nan is as riveting a narrative as is suggested by the blurbs and the other reviews. In some ways, the story is almost author proof as it comes with a easily recoginizable set of personalities and a moment that changes everyone lives. Fiction writers should have it so easy and that, in a way, is one of Stewart O'Nan's strengths. He turns his fiction writing skills towards writing a piece of history and creates this thrilling narrative. The bulk of the book is centred on that tragic day and we are led through the events with the help of some of the survivors and not a few of the victims. The book also shows the readers the aftereffects of such a tragedy on the lives of the survivors and the circus itself. This part of the story is presented in a manner that is as important and dramatic as the details of the actual fire. An exciting read.
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