Last year I read Melanie Benjamin's novel about Lavinia Warren Bump Stratton -- The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb.  It's a fictionalized account of a real woman's life--a little person who met and married Charles Stratton, aka "General Tom Thumb" when they were both employed by P. T. Barnum.  The diminuitive couple toured with Barnum across Europe and the U.S. in the mid-19th Century.  It was a fascinating book, but more than anything, it left me wanting to know more about Phineas Taylor Barnum himself.  So when I saw this biography the other day, I decided to pick it up.  

The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum has been out since 2009, but Candace Fleming's book is one of several illustrated biographies that are aimed at the Young Adult market that I've really enjoyed recently.  Told with an active voice and enough mystery and excitement to keep kids reading, it's also an informative and interesting read for adults.

The 150-page hardcover is a chronological look at Barnum and his achievements.  Where I didn't know much about him outside of what I'd read in "Mrs. Tom Thumb," this was a fascinating look at not only the man himself, but the culture and society of 19th Century America.  

Barnum grew up in Connecticut, but moved to New York City soon after getting married, and made New York his headquarters for decades to come.  After a brief stint as a traveling showman and learning the ropes of salesmanship, he realized he "had a gift for entertaining people and an instinct for promotion."  By the age of thirty, he took over the American Museum, at the corner of Ann Street and Broadway, and quickly made it his own.  

Fleming's look at the American Museum takes up a huge chunk of the book, but it's a fascinating one.  She describes how museums were different now and then, with people on display as exhibits that would later become "sideshow freaks."  According to Fleming, these "human curiosities" were treated with kindness and respect by Barnum and by most of the public on the whole, seen as expressions of the greatness of God, not as aberrations.  So at the American Museum, alongside fossils and pieces of history, you'd also have a bearded lady, a dog-faced boy, a giantess, and a "living skeleton."  Barnum cultivated relationships with some, but none deeper than the friendship he had with Charles Stratton, the aforementioned General Tom Thumb.  As I read, I found myself vacillating between admiration and revulsion at Barnum, feeling like he was finding opportunities for these people, or exploiting them.  I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

Another aspect of Barnum's character that came up frequently in the book is his reputation as a perpetrator of hoaxes.  Things like displaying "George Washington's 160 year old slave" or the "Feejee Mermaid," knowing they weren't what they claimed to be gave him the reputation of being a Humbug, and at times that hurt his feelings--other times, he reveled in it.

After the American Museum burned down (twice!) Barnum retreated from show business for a time, until discovering the circus life.  After a few forays into the field, he found the perfect partner in James Bailey.  The circus dominates the later chapters of the book, as it dominated the later years of Barnum's life.  Again, Fleming does a great job of explaining what the circus was like in the 19th Century--probably closer to our idea of a circus than the American Museum was to our idea of a museum.  

Intermingled with the stories of Barnum's professional life, Fleming details enough of his personal life to get a better sense of the man.  His relationship with his wife Charity, which wasn't always charitable; his struggles with alcohol; his eventual conversion to Universalism; and his reconciliation with his wife and grandchildren are all explained.  There are some troubling issues in his story, but Fleming finds a balance between glossing over them and making them understandable for an audience of young readers.  

The photographs and illustrations are all black and white, but really complete the book and the life. These include photographs of P. T. Barnum and his family of course, but also many of the performers and their acts from the American Museum and the circus.  There are also many advertisements from Barnum himself, and then illustrations and engravings from Harper's Weekly and other period magazines and newspapers.  

In all, this is a great look at a man who was able to take his talents of showmanship and salesmanship, and create an American icon.  His name became his biggest sell of all, and he was able to use that to make The Greatest Show on Earth.  If you're interested in circuses, the culture of the 19th Century, or just the spectacle of life, you'd enjoy The Great and Only Barnum.  

 

Recommended: Yes