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Rating: 
Summary: Fun, but...
Review: I enjoyed most of this book. There are some very amazing stories in here. Some are uplifting, while others are pure tragedy.
Be advised, some information is innacurate (Example: Barnum's uncle never showed him Ivy Island, a worker did), but it's probably just to make the stories shorter. I also find it strange how absolutely no mention was made of the Jim Rose Sideshow Circus, since it's been around since 1992 and this book was published in 1996.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy this book
Review: I first picked up a copy of The Big Book of Freaks several years ago. I didn't purchase it that day and I have regretted it ever since.
I recently purchased copy online for [money] dollars. I was not let down. This is book is worth every penny. From the tragic tale of Jumbo the Elephant to the Lobster Boy, Freaks is well written and well illustrated. The picture of a Denatsate is creepy in the very least.
Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book
Review: I first picked up a copy of The Big Book of Freaks several years ago. I didn't purchase it that day and I have regretted it ever since.
I recently purchased copy online for [money] dollars. I was not let down. This is book is worth every penny. From the tragic tale of Jumbo the Elephant to the Lobster Boy, Freaks is well written and well illustrated. The picture of a Denatsate is creepy in the very least.
Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Comic Carny Midway
Review: Step right up and see this book! Gahan Wilson is a genius of comic art, and he wrote this tome for Paradox Press. In this volume, you learn about all the famous residents of circus sideshows, the origins of the midway, and all sorts of human oddities. Like the movie "Freaks" says, "Come and see 'em!"
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Price of Admission
Review: Written by repected cartoonist, Gahan Wilson (appropriately so since he is a direct descendant of P.T. Barnum), this is a fascinating look at the history of freaks in real life and in the media and treats the subject with a great deal of reverence and respect. Wilson goes beyond merely presenting the histories of various famous freaks, but also examines why we are so fascinated by them and laments the fact that with advances in genetics they may be a dying breed (with the exception of self-made freaks like those in the Jim Rose Circus). Wilson begins with the historical roots of the sideshow, with the wild speculations about possible creatures that might exist in the days when much of the world was unexplored, to the fake freaks created for medieval carnivals and self-mutilated beggars, to the modern circus and portrayals in movies such as Tod Browning's "Freaks". In addition to such articles on specific themes are the histories of particular individuals ranging from the famous (the Elephant Man) to the not-so-famous (a "Lobster Man" who committed a murder in a Florida town composed almost entirely of retired circus freaks). The stories range from the heartwarming to the heartbreaking, the humourous to the serious, and include romance and adventure, but all of them treat the unusual individuals who are their subjects as human beings, with all the same potentials as well as the character flaws of any person, and avoids being exploitative. My personal favourite is the article drawn by Ivan Brunetti illustrating how ALL human beings are freakish and are constantly undergoing strange transformations. The accompanying illustrations are also superb. This is definitely one of the best in the Big Books series.
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