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Among the Wonderful
In 1842 Phineas T. Barnum is a young man, freshly arrived in New York and still unknown to the world. With uncanny confidence and impeccable timing, he transforms a dusty natural history museum into a great ark for public imagination. Barnum's museum, with its human wonders and extraordinary live animal menagerie, rises to become not only the nation's most popular attraction, but also a catalyst that ushers America out of a culture of glassed-in exhibits and into the modern age of entertainment.
In this kaleidoscopic setting, the stories of two compelling characters are brought to life. Emile Guillaudeu is the museum's grumpy taxidermist, who is horrified by the chaotic change Barnum brings to his beloved institution. Ana Swift is a professional giantess plagued by chronic pain and jaded by a world of gawkers. The differences between these two are one is isolated and spends his working hours making dead things look alive, while the other has people pushing against her, and reacting to her, every day. But they both move toward change, one against his will, propelled by a paradigm shift happening whether he likes it or not, and the other because she is struggling to survive. In many shapes and forms, metamorphosis is at the core of Among the Wonderful . Pursuing this theme, the book weaves a world where upper Manhattan is still untrammeled wilderness, the Five Points is at the height of its bloody glory, and within the walls of Barnum's museum, ancient tribal feuds play out in the midst of an unlikely community of marvels.
In this kaleidoscopic setting, the stories of two compelling characters are brought to life. Emile Guillaudeu is the museum's grumpy taxidermist, who is horrified by the chaotic change Barnum brings to his beloved institution. Ana Swift is a professional giantess plagued by chronic pain and jaded by a world of gawkers. The differences between these two are one is isolated and spends his working hours making dead things look alive, while the other has people pushing against her, and reacting to her, every day. But they both move toward change, one against his will, propelled by a paradigm shift happening whether he likes it or not, and the other because she is struggling to survive. In many shapes and forms, metamorphosis is at the core of Among the Wonderful . Pursuing this theme, the book weaves a world where upper Manhattan is still untrammeled wilderness, the Five Points is at the height of its bloody glory, and within the walls of Barnum's museum, ancient tribal feuds play out in the midst of an unlikely community of marvels.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
25 people are currently reading
878 people want to read
About the author
Stacy Carlson
1 book13 followersMy work springs from forgotten details of the historical past. Scientists once believed swallows hibernated at the bottom of lakes; Russian monks aboard a ship in the arctic claimed they saw Judas Iscariot adrift on an ice floe; Harlem was once a savanna, and PT Barnum once hosted a devious buffalo hunt in Brooklyn. Who were those monks and what were they doing in the arctic? What, exactly, was in a scientist’s 18th century cabinet of wonders? What manner of wildlife wandered the Harlem grasslands? I catch details that flash with this poetic possibility and harness the imaginative worlds that spring up around them. I build novels for these worlds to live in.
My fiction and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in Tin House, Post Road, In Pieces: An Anthology of Fragmentary Writing, and Inkwell. I was awarded a 2010 artist residency at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and a residency at Galleri Svalbard, in arctic Norway. I received the 2003 Dana Portfolio Award, given for three book-length manuscripts. I have an MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College.
I grew up in Seattle, spent many years in Oakland, California, and now call Minneapolis home. In addition to my fiction practice, my daily life includes maintaining a robust writing and editing freelance practice and serving as education program manager for the Women’s Environmental Institute.
My background also includes work as a historical ecologist, fish cannery worker, hot springs caretaker, field crew on a bird refuge in SE Alaska, and hiking guide in Big Sur. I was only 23 miles away from Mt. St. Helens when it erupted in 1980, and I credit that experience as the reason I became a writer.
My fiction and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in Tin House, Post Road, In Pieces: An Anthology of Fragmentary Writing, and Inkwell. I was awarded a 2010 artist residency at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and a residency at Galleri Svalbard, in arctic Norway. I received the 2003 Dana Portfolio Award, given for three book-length manuscripts. I have an MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College.
I grew up in Seattle, spent many years in Oakland, California, and now call Minneapolis home. In addition to my fiction practice, my daily life includes maintaining a robust writing and editing freelance practice and serving as education program manager for the Women’s Environmental Institute.
My background also includes work as a historical ecologist, fish cannery worker, hot springs caretaker, field crew on a bird refuge in SE Alaska, and hiking guide in Big Sur. I was only 23 miles away from Mt. St. Helens when it erupted in 1980, and I credit that experience as the reason I became a writer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
February 7, 2012
The premise of this book immediately drew it to me - P.T. Barnum had a large life, and one that would easily make for a riveting fictionalization. There is just so much promise there - unfortunately, this book simply did not deliver. The book lacked a plot, a solid story line and most conflicts that did arise went unresolved in the end. The overall structure and narration fell apart into a mess and were too weak to pull me through. I did finish the book, but mostly because I just felt like I was waiting for something else to happen.
There were two main narrators - a taxidermist (be prepared for some shockingly grisly descriptions of that craft) and a giantess (though her narrative sections are oddly interrupted by interludes from a third narrator). These characters rarely overlap or interact with one another, and even the predictable (if you know your history)conclusion fails to pull these disparate narratives together. The use of different P.O.V.s further broke up any semblance of unity the book had.
I really wanted to like this book, but its lack of plot, cohesion and sympathetic characters just made that impossible. The motivations for the taxidermist were not completely developed and he was such a negative person, and so unlikable. Plus his work and nightmares were more befitting a horror novel than historical fiction. And Ana, the giantess, was also a negative force in the book. So much revolved around her size, that the woman within that flesh was rather lost. Which was disappointing because it was obvious that it was the exact opposite reaction that the author wanted.
And as for Barnum himself? Well, Carlson certainly used him to suck me into the book, but here he is portrayed as a shifty, shadowy villain who's absence defined the book more than his presence.
There were two main narrators - a taxidermist (be prepared for some shockingly grisly descriptions of that craft) and a giantess (though her narrative sections are oddly interrupted by interludes from a third narrator). These characters rarely overlap or interact with one another, and even the predictable (if you know your history)conclusion fails to pull these disparate narratives together. The use of different P.O.V.s further broke up any semblance of unity the book had.
I really wanted to like this book, but its lack of plot, cohesion and sympathetic characters just made that impossible. The motivations for the taxidermist were not completely developed and he was such a negative person, and so unlikable. Plus his work and nightmares were more befitting a horror novel than historical fiction. And Ana, the giantess, was also a negative force in the book. So much revolved around her size, that the woman within that flesh was rather lost. Which was disappointing because it was obvious that it was the exact opposite reaction that the author wanted.
And as for Barnum himself? Well, Carlson certainly used him to suck me into the book, but here he is portrayed as a shifty, shadowy villain who's absence defined the book more than his presence.
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January 20, 2016An intriguing and sometimes compelling but ultimately frustrating book for me. I suppose it's that as I get older I'm just more easily frustrated by beautiful stories that insist on tragedy, and more specifically insist on tragedy for those who are different.
I love the primary narrator, Ana a giantess, even as I longed for her to live her life rather than sacrifice it. Also, I disliked seeing what seems now to be a common trope of circus marvels who refuse to be attracted to or romantically involved with a fellow marvel. It's hard not to see it as the author's own refusal to view them as fully human and desirable.
I love the primary narrator, Ana a giantess, even as I longed for her to live her life rather than sacrifice it. Also, I disliked seeing what seems now to be a common trope of circus marvels who refuse to be attracted to or romantically involved with a fellow marvel. It's hard not to see it as the author's own refusal to view them as fully human and desirable.
January 21, 2012
Great Historical Novel about Barnum and his New York City Museum
Irresistible from the very first page to the last, Stacy Carlson's "Among the Wonderful" is such an unbelievably great historical novel that its characters and setting will linger long in the reader's memory. It's the best novel I have read on mid Nineteen Century New York City; a big, bold, and brash novel replete with P. T. Barnum's larger-than-life persona, noteworthy for its exquisite detail of lower Manhattan, from the relatively tranquil steps of City Hall to the noisy, often dangerous, Five Points slum, and yet one which will resonate strongly with contemporary readers awash in a culture replete with sensational celebrity gawking and narcissistic navel gazing. It's also one that offers readers a most compelling look at human dignity with respect to women, children and those who are deemed little better than savages like the American Indians and other human "exhibits" residing in the museum. Hers is a most compelling saga as seen through the eyes of taxonomist Emile Guillaudeu and gigantess Ana Swift, as each must contend with the veritable chaos that is P. T. Barnum's newly acquired natural history museum. Guillaudeu is confounded constantly by the dramatic ongoing metamorphosis of the museum's collection, from a rather staid cabinet of natural curiosities into a zoo and theater replete with a beluga whale, monkeys, human giants and American Indians adorned in their native costumes. Infuriated by Barnum's purchase of the museum and his unorthodox leadership, Guillaudeu eventually resigns himself to his newly acquired status of uneasy coexistence, and is unexpectedly recognized for his work in conserving and in curating, the museum's collections. Swift, on the other hand, is an emotionally far more complex figure than Guillaudeu, often suffering in pain from the physical and emotional afflictions due to her unusual size, but still a most formidable individual who becomes unexpectedly, the unofficial leader and emissary of her fellow museum inhabitants. Carlson's novel is truly a feast for the eyes, and one that is certain to be well remembered as among this year's best.
(Reposted from my 2011 Amazon review)
Irresistible from the very first page to the last, Stacy Carlson's "Among the Wonderful" is such an unbelievably great historical novel that its characters and setting will linger long in the reader's memory. It's the best novel I have read on mid Nineteen Century New York City; a big, bold, and brash novel replete with P. T. Barnum's larger-than-life persona, noteworthy for its exquisite detail of lower Manhattan, from the relatively tranquil steps of City Hall to the noisy, often dangerous, Five Points slum, and yet one which will resonate strongly with contemporary readers awash in a culture replete with sensational celebrity gawking and narcissistic navel gazing. It's also one that offers readers a most compelling look at human dignity with respect to women, children and those who are deemed little better than savages like the American Indians and other human "exhibits" residing in the museum. Hers is a most compelling saga as seen through the eyes of taxonomist Emile Guillaudeu and gigantess Ana Swift, as each must contend with the veritable chaos that is P. T. Barnum's newly acquired natural history museum. Guillaudeu is confounded constantly by the dramatic ongoing metamorphosis of the museum's collection, from a rather staid cabinet of natural curiosities into a zoo and theater replete with a beluga whale, monkeys, human giants and American Indians adorned in their native costumes. Infuriated by Barnum's purchase of the museum and his unorthodox leadership, Guillaudeu eventually resigns himself to his newly acquired status of uneasy coexistence, and is unexpectedly recognized for his work in conserving and in curating, the museum's collections. Swift, on the other hand, is an emotionally far more complex figure than Guillaudeu, often suffering in pain from the physical and emotional afflictions due to her unusual size, but still a most formidable individual who becomes unexpectedly, the unofficial leader and emissary of her fellow museum inhabitants. Carlson's novel is truly a feast for the eyes, and one that is certain to be well remembered as among this year's best.
(Reposted from my 2011 Amazon review)
September 17, 2015
I won a copy of this book from a contest held on Twitter by @HistoricalFix. This review was originally posted at eclectictales.com: http://www.eclectictales.com/blog/201...
The premise of this novel is quite intriguing and different than I expected. It feels a little whimsical in some sense, with a natural history museum being morphed into a sort of strange and wondrous exhibition, but intertwined with some of the realities of the 19th century. “Kaleidoscopic” is a good word to describe the book, it really felt like a menage of elements and character experiences all tied into the museum and what Mr. Barnum hoped to achieve, even though he is absent for most of the novel. Giantesses and performing acts, taxidermy and natives, it felt pretty mad at one point with all of these elements running about. The book was also quite thoughtful at times, contemplating on life and living it and the nature of everything; there were some great thoughts here and there.
Having said that, it did lull at times and for a good chunk in the middle left me wondering where the story was headed exactly. Ana Swift and Emile Guillaudeu’s stories, while tied to the museum, were on different trajectories much of the time that they seemed like two different stories until the end. Also, I felt much more interested and invested in Emile Guillaudeu’s story, probably because of its strong opening at the start of the novel, and because I was curious at his struggle with the changes in the museum and its new owner and his more unchanging attitude towards science and the way things are. I was expecting more confrontations and happenings with him in the museum, but found he ambled quite a bit for a while as well. Ana’s story felt a little overwhelming at times, probably because she herself was overwhelmed with people gawking over her and her stature, but at the same time we can relate with her story of isolation and feeling out of place from everyone.
Among the Wonderful was overall an interesting read despite of the lulls, the premise and elements a lot different from what I’m used to reading in historical fiction. Readers of historical fiction looking for something different and set in 19th century New York may want to check out this novel.
The premise of this novel is quite intriguing and different than I expected. It feels a little whimsical in some sense, with a natural history museum being morphed into a sort of strange and wondrous exhibition, but intertwined with some of the realities of the 19th century. “Kaleidoscopic” is a good word to describe the book, it really felt like a menage of elements and character experiences all tied into the museum and what Mr. Barnum hoped to achieve, even though he is absent for most of the novel. Giantesses and performing acts, taxidermy and natives, it felt pretty mad at one point with all of these elements running about. The book was also quite thoughtful at times, contemplating on life and living it and the nature of everything; there were some great thoughts here and there.
Having said that, it did lull at times and for a good chunk in the middle left me wondering where the story was headed exactly. Ana Swift and Emile Guillaudeu’s stories, while tied to the museum, were on different trajectories much of the time that they seemed like two different stories until the end. Also, I felt much more interested and invested in Emile Guillaudeu’s story, probably because of its strong opening at the start of the novel, and because I was curious at his struggle with the changes in the museum and its new owner and his more unchanging attitude towards science and the way things are. I was expecting more confrontations and happenings with him in the museum, but found he ambled quite a bit for a while as well. Ana’s story felt a little overwhelming at times, probably because she herself was overwhelmed with people gawking over her and her stature, but at the same time we can relate with her story of isolation and feeling out of place from everyone.
Among the Wonderful was overall an interesting read despite of the lulls, the premise and elements a lot different from what I’m used to reading in historical fiction. Readers of historical fiction looking for something different and set in 19th century New York may want to check out this novel.
August 26, 2011
This review originally posted on my blog : http://utahmomslife.blogspot.com/2011...
In 1842, Phineas T. Barnum purchased the Scudder Natural History Museum in New York City with plans to make it into a showcase of the world's wonders. Filling the building with treasures and curiosities in order to fascinate and marvel the general population becomes his passion.
Ana Swift, the world's only giantess, moves into the apartments on the 5th floor of the museum as one of Barnum's employees. Her job is simply to walk among the visiting crowds each day in the museum.
Guillaudeu is the aging taxidermist who has spent his career in Scudder's museum and balks at the transformation of the museum under the new ownership.
Stacy Carlson's new novel Among the Wonderful is the story of Barnum's museum, the curiosities and the people who work and live inside it's walls. With gracious and fine writing, Carlson opens up and displays Barnum's spiraling and mysterious museum with it's hidden galleries and human treasures. While the people who inhabit it are what the world called "freaks" and Barnum called "wonders", a hirsute woman, Siamese twins, albinos, natives, dwarfs, and giants, Carlson writes of them with a profound human touch, turning the reader from the voyeuristic tourist to the sympathetic and accepting soul.
The characters are richly developed and vastly different from the stereotypes that inhabit most stories about carnivals, fairs and circuses. Ana, the giantess, is so lovingly portrayed in all her heartache, hope and pain that she will be a literary character I will not soon forget. Guillaudeau, too, is a timeless character dealing with the very universal human emotions of aging, loss and dealing with change. His own metamorphosis is interesting to watch even as he bemoans the vast and sweeping changes in the museum.
With skill and style, Carlson takes a foot note of history and works it into a lovely and sweeping novel. Carlson excells as a story teller but proves herself, even more, as a compassionate and thoughtful observer of the human condition.
In 1842, Phineas T. Barnum purchased the Scudder Natural History Museum in New York City with plans to make it into a showcase of the world's wonders. Filling the building with treasures and curiosities in order to fascinate and marvel the general population becomes his passion.
Ana Swift, the world's only giantess, moves into the apartments on the 5th floor of the museum as one of Barnum's employees. Her job is simply to walk among the visiting crowds each day in the museum.
Guillaudeu is the aging taxidermist who has spent his career in Scudder's museum and balks at the transformation of the museum under the new ownership.
Stacy Carlson's new novel Among the Wonderful is the story of Barnum's museum, the curiosities and the people who work and live inside it's walls. With gracious and fine writing, Carlson opens up and displays Barnum's spiraling and mysterious museum with it's hidden galleries and human treasures. While the people who inhabit it are what the world called "freaks" and Barnum called "wonders", a hirsute woman, Siamese twins, albinos, natives, dwarfs, and giants, Carlson writes of them with a profound human touch, turning the reader from the voyeuristic tourist to the sympathetic and accepting soul.
The characters are richly developed and vastly different from the stereotypes that inhabit most stories about carnivals, fairs and circuses. Ana, the giantess, is so lovingly portrayed in all her heartache, hope and pain that she will be a literary character I will not soon forget. Guillaudeau, too, is a timeless character dealing with the very universal human emotions of aging, loss and dealing with change. His own metamorphosis is interesting to watch even as he bemoans the vast and sweeping changes in the museum.
With skill and style, Carlson takes a foot note of history and works it into a lovely and sweeping novel. Carlson excells as a story teller but proves herself, even more, as a compassionate and thoughtful observer of the human condition.
October 15, 2013
I honestly didn't expect to like this book. The name PT Barnum isn't exactly a lustrous one among people who care about animal welfare; and I expected Wonderful to be something of a rehash of the disappointing Water for Elephants.
I was pleasantly surprised to be drawn into this world of human marvels, with a wonderful sense of time and place and lush descriptions. The text talks of Barnum's museum of wonders--a precursor to the traveling circus--in a straightforward way not meant to smooth over its ethical shortcomings.
If this book is correct, then it seems that Barnum pioneered the now wildly controversial industry of keeping small whale species captive in inland tanks. The loneliness and rather pathetic nature of the museum's single captive beluga is palpable; as is that of the other unlucky creatures that find themselves a long way from home and under the care of humans ignorant of their needs. The "happy family" display is frequently referenced--a curious caging of predators and prey so apparently beaten-down and neurotic that they don't even bother to squabble among themselves.
This is the story of the entertainment of the past; when human "freaks" and refugees from other cultures took their spot alongside exotic animals to be taunted and gawked at. Let us hope that in the circus show of the future, the sad-eyed animals have gone the way of the human sideshow.
I was pleasantly surprised to be drawn into this world of human marvels, with a wonderful sense of time and place and lush descriptions. The text talks of Barnum's museum of wonders--a precursor to the traveling circus--in a straightforward way not meant to smooth over its ethical shortcomings.
If this book is correct, then it seems that Barnum pioneered the now wildly controversial industry of keeping small whale species captive in inland tanks. The loneliness and rather pathetic nature of the museum's single captive beluga is palpable; as is that of the other unlucky creatures that find themselves a long way from home and under the care of humans ignorant of their needs. The "happy family" display is frequently referenced--a curious caging of predators and prey so apparently beaten-down and neurotic that they don't even bother to squabble among themselves.
This is the story of the entertainment of the past; when human "freaks" and refugees from other cultures took their spot alongside exotic animals to be taunted and gawked at. Let us hope that in the circus show of the future, the sad-eyed animals have gone the way of the human sideshow.
June 1, 2011
In this fantastic debut novel, the author describes the lives of the 'wonderful' inhabitants of P.T. Barnum's Museum in Manhattan in the 1840's.
Ana Swift is a giantess, haunted by the knowledge that she will likely die before reaching the age of 40.
Emile Guillaudeu is the resident taxidermist and animal keeper, he is haunted by the death of his unfaithful wife. He wanders the museum, depressed that the new occupants, a bearded lady, conjoined twins, albino children, have replaced the previous tenants, the natural history museum that was his life's work.
The residents if the museum have become a hodge-podge family of sorts, including the singing beluga whale that coexists with various warring American Indian tribes.
In this accomplished novel, the museum's 'wonders' battle their demons and finally allow others to see who they are on the inside, rather than keeping themselves separate by virtue of their 'differentness'. The author reminds us that it is not our outward appearance that matters but our universally human need for love and understanding.
I am very excited about this novel and what the future holds for it's talented author.
Ana Swift is a giantess, haunted by the knowledge that she will likely die before reaching the age of 40.
Emile Guillaudeu is the resident taxidermist and animal keeper, he is haunted by the death of his unfaithful wife. He wanders the museum, depressed that the new occupants, a bearded lady, conjoined twins, albino children, have replaced the previous tenants, the natural history museum that was his life's work.
The residents if the museum have become a hodge-podge family of sorts, including the singing beluga whale that coexists with various warring American Indian tribes.
In this accomplished novel, the museum's 'wonders' battle their demons and finally allow others to see who they are on the inside, rather than keeping themselves separate by virtue of their 'differentness'. The author reminds us that it is not our outward appearance that matters but our universally human need for love and understanding.
I am very excited about this novel and what the future holds for it's talented author.
January 22, 2022
While I love Historical Fiction and enjoyed the premise of the book, the plot left we wanting and I was not at all thrilled with the writing style. So many times I had no idea if what I was reading was present day, a flashback or a dream the character was having. None of this was helped by the fact that I found the character of Guillaudeu annoying and extremely unlikable.
September 11, 2025
FANTASTIC READ!
Such beautifully vivid writing.
Creative story and colorful descriptions transport the reader providing a delightful journey to new worlds.
Eager to read the author's latest novel coming out soon.
Such beautifully vivid writing.
Creative story and colorful descriptions transport the reader providing a delightful journey to new worlds.
Eager to read the author's latest novel coming out soon.
November 28, 2017
i liked it :) there is harshness adding complexity throughout and a voyeurism afforded by the behind-the-scenes peek into freak show times. well researched with a gripping story
September 10, 2018
The lives of "regular" people
With extraordinary and unique features giving others the ability to look at their true soul, if only "they" chose to see.
With extraordinary and unique features giving others the ability to look at their true soul, if only "they" chose to see.
March 3, 2019
Complex, blessedly unusual, elusively meta, eventually compelling, bound to linger in my memory.
July 24, 2012
So, I wasn't really thrilled. It might have been because this book reminded me a bit of The Night Circus, but that was fabulous and so it paled in comparison. Certainly, there is nothing really wrong with this novel; it was creative and unique; it developed two very interesting characters, showing the reader their similarities and their differences without being too overt (something I hate and frequently complain of), but there was just nothing that grabbed me and made me want to wallow.
Carlson creates two very different (but very similar) narrators: Ana Swift, the giantess, and Emilie Gillaudau, the museum's taxidermist. Ana is stuck in the rut of her life and is searching for meaning. She is tired of being a spectacle and wishes for a "civic" life. Despite her aethism, she briefly considers marriage to a seminary student simply to be able to grasp some sort of normalcy in life: "I wondered if the fact that I, certainly one of God's more jaded creatures, had warmed to his innocence was one of the world's more wicked jokes or one of its greates gifts."
Gillaudau is stuck in a rut, but he is not aware of it and certainly does not welcome the change until he is let down by one of his heroes (Cuvier's mistaken editorial comment in his scientific book: "Published under a different title, in a book devoted to such things, Cuvier's thoughts on primitive man would be legitimate, but this? He stared at the pages of his beloved volume, no longer reading but unable to turn away from the columns of type that had provided him shelter, structure, and guidance. Was nothing in this world reliable? Would his abandonment be complete? His erasure total?") and then struck by another (Linneaus scolds him through the page for focusing in study/reason to the exclusion of experience). After venturing out to NY Island (one of the most pathetic advertures of all time, if I must say), Gillaudau is a changed man. He meets Lillian and embraces his new life at the museum and with her and becomes excited by the change around him.
Simulaneously Ana begins to find reasons to admire people; she opens herself up to humanity. She looks for change and seeks a way to embrace others and starts to become an advocate for and representative of the "wonderful". She starts an English class (albeit a failing one), she tries to unionize, and she speaks up for the Aztec children. But it is not really until she befriends the other giant (Tai Shen) and she realizes that he thinks the visitors are "Very nice people. When had I ever thought so well of museum visitors or anyone?" that she starts to actually want to engage with others.
Both of these characters move outside their shells; it was an interesting exposition because they are so different and have such different experiences within the microcosm of the museum.
The book was well written and it was a revealing character piece; I just did not find the story very compelling (there was really almost no plot), and in comparison with The Night Circus, it just wasn't "wonderful" or "fantastical" enough. The novelties here might have entranced an audience in 1845, but they did not impress this jaded modern reader.
Carlson creates two very different (but very similar) narrators: Ana Swift, the giantess, and Emilie Gillaudau, the museum's taxidermist. Ana is stuck in the rut of her life and is searching for meaning. She is tired of being a spectacle and wishes for a "civic" life. Despite her aethism, she briefly considers marriage to a seminary student simply to be able to grasp some sort of normalcy in life: "I wondered if the fact that I, certainly one of God's more jaded creatures, had warmed to his innocence was one of the world's more wicked jokes or one of its greates gifts."
Gillaudau is stuck in a rut, but he is not aware of it and certainly does not welcome the change until he is let down by one of his heroes (Cuvier's mistaken editorial comment in his scientific book: "Published under a different title, in a book devoted to such things, Cuvier's thoughts on primitive man would be legitimate, but this? He stared at the pages of his beloved volume, no longer reading but unable to turn away from the columns of type that had provided him shelter, structure, and guidance. Was nothing in this world reliable? Would his abandonment be complete? His erasure total?") and then struck by another (Linneaus scolds him through the page for focusing in study/reason to the exclusion of experience). After venturing out to NY Island (one of the most pathetic advertures of all time, if I must say), Gillaudau is a changed man. He meets Lillian and embraces his new life at the museum and with her and becomes excited by the change around him.
Simulaneously Ana begins to find reasons to admire people; she opens herself up to humanity. She looks for change and seeks a way to embrace others and starts to become an advocate for and representative of the "wonderful". She starts an English class (albeit a failing one), she tries to unionize, and she speaks up for the Aztec children. But it is not really until she befriends the other giant (Tai Shen) and she realizes that he thinks the visitors are "Very nice people. When had I ever thought so well of museum visitors or anyone?" that she starts to actually want to engage with others.
Both of these characters move outside their shells; it was an interesting exposition because they are so different and have such different experiences within the microcosm of the museum.
The book was well written and it was a revealing character piece; I just did not find the story very compelling (there was really almost no plot), and in comparison with The Night Circus, it just wasn't "wonderful" or "fantastical" enough. The novelties here might have entranced an audience in 1845, but they did not impress this jaded modern reader.
August 7, 2011
(This is a four and a half star book for me)
Imagine that you could walk the streets of 1840s Manhattan. Imagine that you could visit one of its premier attractions, P.T. Barnum’s newly opened American Museum. Imagine walking through the galleries of the museum gaping at its wonders, from exotic animals to Italian acrobats to The Human Calculator. Imagine that you are one of the human wonders, that you are Ana Swift, The World’s Only Giantess.
Welcome to Among the Wonderful, by debut novelist Stacy Carlson. The story centers on two main characters. Emile Guillaudeu is a taxidermist, an employee of the natural history museum formerly housed in the building now hosting Barnum’s panoply of attractions. He is a man comforted by structure, by order, and made nervous by change. An observer in life up to this point, Guillaudeu is exquisitely skilled at fixing formerly live beings into a permanent pose.
Ana Swift is Canadian by birth, the only child of a farming family whose whole world is turned upside down by her metamorphosis from ordinary child to giantess at age eleven. She has resigned herself to a life in which her size separates her from others and keeps her from feeling like she belongs. She views Barnum’s museum from the inside, as only a person who is one of the living exhibits can.
Bridging the two stories is the larger than life P.T. Barnum, one of American’s earliest and greatest entrepreneurs and showmen. He is the driving force behind the events that dramatically change the lives of Guillaudeu and Ana Swift in ways beyond their wildest dreams.
This is a wonderful book, full of striking images and fascinating characters. Various themes run throughout the story, from the inevitably of change among the living, to how the business of making money affects art, to the importance of dreams and stories.
But for me, the towering achievement of this book is the creation of the character of Ana Swift. She is prickly yet vulnerable, worldly wise yet romantic, frightened yet fearless. She will fire your imagination while she steals your heart. And in perhaps the greatest tribute I can give a fictional character and the one Ana herself would most wish for---you will never forget her.
Imagine that you could walk the streets of 1840s Manhattan. Imagine that you could visit one of its premier attractions, P.T. Barnum’s newly opened American Museum. Imagine walking through the galleries of the museum gaping at its wonders, from exotic animals to Italian acrobats to The Human Calculator. Imagine that you are one of the human wonders, that you are Ana Swift, The World’s Only Giantess.
Welcome to Among the Wonderful, by debut novelist Stacy Carlson. The story centers on two main characters. Emile Guillaudeu is a taxidermist, an employee of the natural history museum formerly housed in the building now hosting Barnum’s panoply of attractions. He is a man comforted by structure, by order, and made nervous by change. An observer in life up to this point, Guillaudeu is exquisitely skilled at fixing formerly live beings into a permanent pose.
Ana Swift is Canadian by birth, the only child of a farming family whose whole world is turned upside down by her metamorphosis from ordinary child to giantess at age eleven. She has resigned herself to a life in which her size separates her from others and keeps her from feeling like she belongs. She views Barnum’s museum from the inside, as only a person who is one of the living exhibits can.
Bridging the two stories is the larger than life P.T. Barnum, one of American’s earliest and greatest entrepreneurs and showmen. He is the driving force behind the events that dramatically change the lives of Guillaudeu and Ana Swift in ways beyond their wildest dreams.
This is a wonderful book, full of striking images and fascinating characters. Various themes run throughout the story, from the inevitably of change among the living, to how the business of making money affects art, to the importance of dreams and stories.
But for me, the towering achievement of this book is the creation of the character of Ana Swift. She is prickly yet vulnerable, worldly wise yet romantic, frightened yet fearless. She will fire your imagination while she steals your heart. And in perhaps the greatest tribute I can give a fictional character and the one Ana herself would most wish for---you will never forget her.
December 14, 2012
Among the Wonderful is a novel that took me almost a year to review. I am now deeply regretting that it took me so long to get to it. Fair warning, its' not a novel for the impatient. The descriptions of everything are richly drawn and complex. Stacy Carlson took great pains to recreate this fantastical representation of New York City in the 1840's. Quite honestly, I almost gave up myself after a confused jog through the first hundred pages, but after page 100 or so, the main characters of Among the Wonderful reached out and grabbed me by throat, refusing to let go until the very last word of the last page.
The novel features a rich cast of characters who are all interconnected to each other by this museum of public imagination created by the eccentric showman Phineas T. Barnum. Barnum creates an 1840's house of oddities, I guess one could say, with giants, acrobats, warring Indian tribes, and exotic animals from all over the world. Barnum's creation runs afoul of Emile Guillaudeu- a taxidermist from the museums former life as a history museum. Emile thinks that Barnum is ruining the old glorious museum in the pursuit of sideshow.
The other notable character is Ana Swift- a giantess who has always felt looked down upon by the world and has never known a world outside of being a sideshow. This eclectic cast of characters interact with each other to create a world that is larger than life. Yet for all its' fantastical elements, Carlson manages to accomplish something that I didn't think was possible and create a novel with these over the top characters that at its' end can ultimately resonate deeply with its' reader. There's something uniquely human about this story.
The novel features a rich cast of characters who are all interconnected to each other by this museum of public imagination created by the eccentric showman Phineas T. Barnum. Barnum creates an 1840's house of oddities, I guess one could say, with giants, acrobats, warring Indian tribes, and exotic animals from all over the world. Barnum's creation runs afoul of Emile Guillaudeu- a taxidermist from the museums former life as a history museum. Emile thinks that Barnum is ruining the old glorious museum in the pursuit of sideshow.
The other notable character is Ana Swift- a giantess who has always felt looked down upon by the world and has never known a world outside of being a sideshow. This eclectic cast of characters interact with each other to create a world that is larger than life. Yet for all its' fantastical elements, Carlson manages to accomplish something that I didn't think was possible and create a novel with these over the top characters that at its' end can ultimately resonate deeply with its' reader. There's something uniquely human about this story.
July 26, 2011
In the mid-1800s, P.T. Barnum opened a museum of his wonders in New York City. This is the story of two people who call this museum home - the taxidermist, and the giantess.
I was beyond excited to snag a copy of this at ALA in June. I love the circus and pretty much anything having to do with it. I'm also a big fan of historical fiction. So this seemed like a great combination for me. Plus, it was getting quite a bit of buzz (though not as much as that OTHER book about the circus coming out this fall). So I was happy to delve into this one. For me, it had its flaws. If I didn't know that this book was set in the past, I think it would be difficult to tell. Yes, some things are very different than they would be in the present day, but these instances are few and far-between in the novel. For the most part, the action takes place within the world of the museum, which is insular and richly imagined. So I lacked a little bit of the historical detail that I craved. Additionally, I found that Ana's narrative (the giantess) was much stronger and more compelling than that of the taxidermist. I was glad to have the alternating narratives and the difference in perspective they provided, but Ana's story was far more interesting to me. That being said, Carlson has created a lovely story that I thoroughly enjoyed. It moves along relatively quickly and keeps you engaged the whole time. I'll be interested to see where she goes from here.
Thanks to the publisher for an advanced reader's copy.
I was beyond excited to snag a copy of this at ALA in June. I love the circus and pretty much anything having to do with it. I'm also a big fan of historical fiction. So this seemed like a great combination for me. Plus, it was getting quite a bit of buzz (though not as much as that OTHER book about the circus coming out this fall). So I was happy to delve into this one. For me, it had its flaws. If I didn't know that this book was set in the past, I think it would be difficult to tell. Yes, some things are very different than they would be in the present day, but these instances are few and far-between in the novel. For the most part, the action takes place within the world of the museum, which is insular and richly imagined. So I lacked a little bit of the historical detail that I craved. Additionally, I found that Ana's narrative (the giantess) was much stronger and more compelling than that of the taxidermist. I was glad to have the alternating narratives and the difference in perspective they provided, but Ana's story was far more interesting to me. That being said, Carlson has created a lovely story that I thoroughly enjoyed. It moves along relatively quickly and keeps you engaged the whole time. I'll be interested to see where she goes from here.
Thanks to the publisher for an advanced reader's copy.
March 10, 2013
This beautifully written literary novel takes us inside the strange, claustrophobic world of P. T. Barnum’s Museum of Wonders—that is, strange animals and even stranger humans—in 1840s New York. Carlson unfolds the stories of her two protagonists—an eight foot tall giantess and an elderly taxidermist—in alternating sections, which read almost like separate interleaved novellas because she chooses not to bring the two together at all until the surprising and moving climax. An equally odd choice is that Barnum, himself, is almost entirely absent from the book (and when he does finally appear is rather one-dimensional). The taxidermist, Emile Guillaudeu, is an unhappy widower who has devoted his life and skills to rendering nature and making it comprehensible to ordinary folk. But he finds, to his dismay, that his devotion to science is scorned by the crassly exhibitionistic Barnum. However, the novel really belongs to Ana, who speaks to us in the first person. Loathing herself and those who pay to gawk at her, in constant pain, and living under the shadow of an early death, she is, nevertheless, insightful, good-hearted, full of dark humor, and, at the end, selflessly heroic. This novel explores the antitheses of reality and illusion, normal and abnormal, spectator and spectacle. It will give readers much to think about and leave them with indelible impressions of a (thankfully) vanished world.
October 8, 2015
This novel is "okay." It is the most okay novel I have read in quite awhile. It is consistently and totally fair. This makes it even harder to read than a bad book, because the constant competence and glimmer of insights leave you waiting for the book to take off and then this never happens.
The novel has two story threads. The first follows Guillaudeu, a taxidermist who works at PT Barnum's museum and is often frustrated with his work. he has a compelling backstory and the third person account of him has the novel's funniest moments, but there is little point to his story at all.
The meat of the novel comes from the character of Ana Swift, a nearly eight foot tall giantess, obviously inspired by the real life Anna Swan. The best moments of the novel are her sad realizations that nobody is going to look past her height to see the real her but the romantic plot she is given seems more taken down by her defeatist attitude and oddly antireligious sentiments then by anything else. She comes off as a woman who is alone because she wants to be alone, not somebody struggling with acceptance and the problems of being a mirror for others to see themselves.
The ending is supposed to be really powerful but it doesn't really work as well as it should. So you are left with a meh feeling. It should have been called Among the Meh but Barnum would have spun it better.
The novel has two story threads. The first follows Guillaudeu, a taxidermist who works at PT Barnum's museum and is often frustrated with his work. he has a compelling backstory and the third person account of him has the novel's funniest moments, but there is little point to his story at all.
The meat of the novel comes from the character of Ana Swift, a nearly eight foot tall giantess, obviously inspired by the real life Anna Swan. The best moments of the novel are her sad realizations that nobody is going to look past her height to see the real her but the romantic plot she is given seems more taken down by her defeatist attitude and oddly antireligious sentiments then by anything else. She comes off as a woman who is alone because she wants to be alone, not somebody struggling with acceptance and the problems of being a mirror for others to see themselves.
The ending is supposed to be really powerful but it doesn't really work as well as it should. So you are left with a meh feeling. It should have been called Among the Meh but Barnum would have spun it better.
June 20, 2016
I was intrigued by this novel because I know so little of life among the “freaks” who populated sideshows and Barnum’s American Museum in the 1800s. The story is loosely focused on those anomalies, known in Barnum’s world as “the Wonderful”; however, the novel focuses more centrally on two specific characters – one from real life, Ana Swift, Barnum’s giantess, and the other wholly fictional, Emile Guillaudeu, Barnum’s American Museum taxidermist. The tale is truly the exploration of their lives in and among the odd. Ana’s story, of sudden bone growth, intense pain, a longing for normal life and normal love, is heartbreaking; Emile’s ultimate loneliness even in the face of his very controlled productivity is also saddening. Thankfully, the world of the Wonderful is brimming with beauty and individualism; Ana and Emile both have their place in the grand scheme and also are fully realized characters. My only disagreement with the novel is that, at the end, the giantess dies in the fire that consumed the Museum in 1865. In real life, Ana escaped rather remarkably and went on to lead a happy and fulfilling life away from Barnum and his influence. I thought, after the time spent fleshing her out and detailing her struggles, that she deserved that life, especially in the novel. Overall, a beautiful and rare novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2011
I have always enjoyed reading historical fiction and this one about P. T. Barnum's museum set up in New York City during the 1840's was no exception. The book really was not about P. T. Barnum so much as about the giantess, Ana Swift, and the taxidermist, Emile Guillaudeu, who are both caught up in the formation of the museum's development. P. T. Barnum went the world over finding unusual people and animals to create the atmosphere that attracted thousands to experience "THE Wonderful".
Sometimes tragic, sometimes insightful, the story is seen through the eyes of these two persons. Their histories are unfolded before the reader and the eventual horror of the end of the museum was very moving. In the book you also see the Manhattan of that era, so unlike today, The island was still a wilderness just beginning to boom with people and rebuilding.
I was very touched, especially by Ana Swift as she describes the terror of becoming a giantess. Her story of a childhood that crashed around her as she began to grow out of control with the pain and family struggles was very moving. She had a heart as big as her body became as she related to the other "anomalies" of the museum.
Sometimes tragic, sometimes insightful, the story is seen through the eyes of these two persons. Their histories are unfolded before the reader and the eventual horror of the end of the museum was very moving. In the book you also see the Manhattan of that era, so unlike today, The island was still a wilderness just beginning to boom with people and rebuilding.
I was very touched, especially by Ana Swift as she describes the terror of becoming a giantess. Her story of a childhood that crashed around her as she began to grow out of control with the pain and family struggles was very moving. She had a heart as big as her body became as she related to the other "anomalies" of the museum.
August 30, 2011
3.5 stars
I only needed to see "PT Barnum" and "Giantess" in the description to pick up this novel, so I didn't quite know what I was getting into. And while this book is set among the characters in Barnum's Museum of the Wonderful in late 19th century New York, it isn't really about the museum's "oddities."
Instead it focuses on two specific characters at the brink of change. The museum's long-time taxidermist is aghast at Barnum's work and the "world's only" giantess struggles to find a comfortable place in the world. Carlson does a great job of placing them among bearded ladies, skeleton men and high society ladies so we get a real feel for period. I learned a lot about Barnum and the time period (assuming Carlson bases some of the book on fact – which is hard to know.)
I really liked each character's journey to find the right path. Without giving anything away, their adventures are interesting and make perfect sense.
But I was disappointed in the author's need to explain everything at the end. The way she wrote the book told the story for her. She did not need to spell out their discoveries in the last few chapters, which were also a little too convenient for me.
I only needed to see "PT Barnum" and "Giantess" in the description to pick up this novel, so I didn't quite know what I was getting into. And while this book is set among the characters in Barnum's Museum of the Wonderful in late 19th century New York, it isn't really about the museum's "oddities."
Instead it focuses on two specific characters at the brink of change. The museum's long-time taxidermist is aghast at Barnum's work and the "world's only" giantess struggles to find a comfortable place in the world. Carlson does a great job of placing them among bearded ladies, skeleton men and high society ladies so we get a real feel for period. I learned a lot about Barnum and the time period (assuming Carlson bases some of the book on fact – which is hard to know.)
I really liked each character's journey to find the right path. Without giving anything away, their adventures are interesting and make perfect sense.
But I was disappointed in the author's need to explain everything at the end. The way she wrote the book told the story for her. She did not need to spell out their discoveries in the last few chapters, which were also a little too convenient for me.
December 25, 2011
I picked up Among the Wonderful because I saw that the story was based around Phineas T. Barnum and his early-1900s museum of Wonders in NYC. I read a biography of Barnum a few years back, and was fascinated by his story, so when I saw this novel, I thought it would be an interesting look at how the museum began. There is definitely some history of the museum, much less about Barnum himself. Carlson explores the lives of different performers, how they were treated, and how they organized. The book is told from two perspectives: (1) a first-person narrative by the world's only known giantess and (2) a third-person narrative by the museum's trusted taxidermist and later-on animal menagerie manager. Through the giantess, the reader comes to know the inner lives of various performers: a pair of Siamese twins, a family of juggling Italians, two male giants, and many others. The taxidermist is troubled by the changes Barnum has enacted in the museum (he had purchased it from Scudder just a year or two before), and both resists and flows with the new museum management. Overall, it was an enjoyable read, just a tad too long.
March 7, 2012
In the autumn of 1840, a young man named P.T. Barnum bought a museum in Manhattan. Along with it, he got a taxidermist who had previously worked at the museum for John Scudder. Suddenly, Emile Guillaudeu is faced with live animals and he doesn't know what to do with them. Along with all the strange animals arriving everyday, new people begin to show up, hired to work as exhibits as the museum, including Ana Swift, a giantess from Canada. The book alternates between these two narrators as they both struggle to come to terms with the vast changes in their lives. For the first time, Ana is working without a manager and reveling in the freedom to do whatever she wishes. Guillaudeu's life work has been transformed from recreating dead animals to taking care of live ones. Guillaudeu is a recent widower and his life is as circumscribed as the taxonomy of nature's classification system. Ana is plagued by pain and gawkers as she walks among the tourists at the museum. What is the value of Emile's and Ana's lives when they have both been overtaken by a new paradigm? The clash between magic and science, art and deception, lies at the core of this book.
July 12, 2011
There's one born every minute, P.T. Barnum famously said, and yet this book makes it clear that he's every much a sucker as the rest of us. Chaotic and more interested in promotion than actually running his museum (or being with his family), Barnum's ability to provide New York with "wonder" in the 1800s was unparalleled. However, he is not the focus of the book, just the undercurrent to the lives we explore.
I don't think that the characters in the book actually existed, and the timeframe the book covers seems to collapse the actual 15 year existence of the museum. However, the lives of Ana (professional Giantess), Emile (taxidermist and self-declared caretaker to the living animals), the unnamed African tribesman and the other "wonders" certainly come alive as stand-ins for their real-life counterparts. The humiliation that the wonders feel as they participate in their own exploitation, the lack of access to Barnum and real control over their lives, and the ultimate camaraderie they attain is clear to all readers.
ARC provided by publisher.
I don't think that the characters in the book actually existed, and the timeframe the book covers seems to collapse the actual 15 year existence of the museum. However, the lives of Ana (professional Giantess), Emile (taxidermist and self-declared caretaker to the living animals), the unnamed African tribesman and the other "wonders" certainly come alive as stand-ins for their real-life counterparts. The humiliation that the wonders feel as they participate in their own exploitation, the lack of access to Barnum and real control over their lives, and the ultimate camaraderie they attain is clear to all readers.
ARC provided by publisher.
March 11, 2012
Among the Wonderful is a story of PT Barnum's first museum in New York City. It switches perspectives between Emile Guillaudeu, the museum's taxidermist, and Ana Swift, the giantess. Guillaudeu's chapters were rather boring, his obsession with the animals and proper classification of all the animals is, while understandable (I'm a bit of an OCD list-maker myself), is not exactly exciting. Ana's chapters were much more interesting with her views of the other performers and glimpses into her life before Barnum. There were a few very short sections sprinkled throughout from the Tribesman. I have to admit, I found myself skimming these, they felt surreal, hazy, and the fact that they were written in italics made them more difficult to read. I'm still unsure of his role except for his involvement in a major event, but I don't really understand his purpose. Several of the occurrences were predictable, and I didn't find myself caring about what happened to anyone. Except maybe for the beluga.
August 12, 2011
I really did love this book. That said, it's not without its faults -- the plot is somewhat sacrificed to the marvelous characters, and it's a little all over the place. What it's got going on insanely is atmosphere, both in terms of location and personalities -- really spooky and touching and mysterious. I'm sure it could have been edited down in the name of streamlining, but the novel as it stands is a reflection of the Cabinet of Curiosities subject matter, and I honestly wouldn't have wanted to miss a single one of the digressions. My intense affection for this book completely overrides any stylistic quibbles, and if you know me you know that's saying a lot. I found it both fun and haunting. I don't know why it's not getting more buzz, honestly.
Review to follow one of these days soon.
Review to follow one of these days soon.
September 21, 2011
I loved this book. It was told from the two points of view: one, a giantess (Anastasia) that P. T. Barnum "recruits" to be a part of his American Museum in New York City in the 1840s, the second a taxidermist who worked in the Natural History Museum that was housed in the building prior to Barnum taking it over for the American Museum. The author really gets into Anastasia's head to express what it's like to be different in society and the voyeurism that keeps the American Museum packed with people. The taxidermist, Guillaudeu, worked for the building's previous owner for many years and struggles with the drastic changes that Barnum is making to the museum. Guillaudeu is methodical and into the classification of things according to Linneus's system. Barnum defies classification and Guillaudeu is in strong conflict with this. He begins to soften.
June 7, 2016
This isn't the story I thought it was going to be, after all one would expect a fictional novel about PT Barnum to be filled with lots of flash and razzle dazzle. Instead old PT was a mere bit player in this book. This story looks into the day to day mundane lives and minds of some of the employees in Barnum's American Museum and it is still a fascinating read. I was a little concerned at first as one of the main characters, Guillaudeu is the Debby Downer of all Debby Downers, so much so that I almost gave up before I got to the meat of tale. It is slow to start but once you are sucked in you can't wait to see what will happen next. If the two main characters were younger you'd call this a coming of age novel, but I'm not sure what you call it for grown experienced adults. A realization of their true self?
July 25, 2016
For some reason, I dragged my feet at finishing this book. It was a very interesting tale, especially because this time period isn't one typically written about. I found the whole atmosphere enchanting, and the inside look at Barnum's world was very interesting.
I had trouble with reconciling the two narratives until about halfway through. I found both interesting, but I was much more attached to Ms. Swift.
When researching the history of the time-period and Barnum's museum in particular, I discovered that this story was likely based on the giantess Ana Swann, making the ending less of a surprise.
The book condenses a lot of the history into the relatively short time period covered in the book, as opposed to the many years in real life. (Realistically, I know this was done for literary purposes.)
Anyway, it was an interesting, if long, read, and I'd recommend it to others.
I had trouble with reconciling the two narratives until about halfway through. I found both interesting, but I was much more attached to Ms. Swift.
When researching the history of the time-period and Barnum's museum in particular, I discovered that this story was likely based on the giantess Ana Swann, making the ending less of a surprise.
The book condenses a lot of the history into the relatively short time period covered in the book, as opposed to the many years in real life. (Realistically, I know this was done for literary purposes.)
Anyway, it was an interesting, if long, read, and I'd recommend it to others.
November 5, 2011
I love historical fiction concerning my favorite NYC. This takes place in 1842 when Phineas T. Barnum buys a staid museum and transforms it with human oddities, live animals and Indian shows. The main characters are Ana Swift, the world’s only female giantess, and Emile Guillaudeu, the taxidermist. Ana suffers from aches and pains and knows she will die early due to her condition. Emile recently lost his wife to cholera and is appalled at how Barnum is changing the museum. The author writes beautifully about these characters and how they deal with age, loss and change. She also brings to life many of the other “wonders”, the feuding conjoined twins, the hairy woman, the beluga whale and albino twins. I didn’t give it a five star as it was just a bit too long and dull in some parts.
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