Circus of the Scars : The True Inside Odyssey of a Modern Circus Sideshow

by Jan T. Gregor, Ruby Dalsgard, Ashleigh Talbot

If you ever wondered what happened to the original Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, then you will definitely want to read this book! This is the ONLY book that tells how it all began! The most imaginative casting agent couldn't have chosen the original troupe with more flair. The Amazing Mister Lifto The Torture King The Enigma Matt The Tube Crowley with Dolly the Doll Lady They were led by the maniacal hype-master himself, Jim Rose, who was assisted by Bebe the Circus Queen. These Human Marvels came together to revive the ancient art of Sideshow . . . which had been nearly lost . . . but not forgotten. Before rock-and-roll there was Sideshow, which also captivated, mystified and enraged audiences for over a hundred years. But by the end of the 20th century, you could count remaining Sideshows on one hand. Entertainment had become sanitized and corporatized for mass consumption; lukewarm safe with no sharp edges. There was a whole new generation that had been born and raised on rock-and-roll. Sideshow virgins who knew absolutely nothing about the eyeball-bulging, faint-inducing antics of the Human Marvels of Yesteryear. That is, until a modern Sideshow came to town. The contemporary tale--as told by tour manager Jan T. Gregor--is one of bannings, sex, drugs, fame, lust, longing, camaraderie and betrayal. Intertwined into the present-day story is an equally compelling historical the intimate passages from a long-lost and only recently discovered 142-year-old diary. The average person, inherently curious, has always been both fascinated and repulsed by Human Oddities and their unusual feats. Circus of the Scars is the ultimate rollercoaster ride, careening through two years of Sideshow present while simultaneously barreling down 150 years of Sideshow past. Circus of the Scars takes you on a bizarre odyssey around the globe with a Sideshow troupe that truly was live, real, raw and dangerous. Learn the hidden secrets behind one of the most emotion-inducing acts of the 20th Century.

Genres: Nonfiction

385 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This road manager memoir concludes with his involvement in the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow. It covers the birth with Jim Rose enlisting The Marvels, a first national tour in Canada, prominence as the second stage show at the 1992 Lollapalooza, and more including Europe, etc. In 1994, Jim Rose changed the lineup and dropped "sideshow" from the billing and featured female sumo wrestling, Mexican transvestite wrestling, and chainsaw football. I saw that later implementation 14 October 1994 at The Majestic Theatre in Detroit. While I am disappointed not to have that part of the story, this is great for the level of detail and involvement of sideshow history in a creative nonfiction way. While the actual Marvels visit historic places and people from sideshow history, the creative nonfiction dimension is the "Tunchi diaries" as the group's shrunken head in a jar recalls key points over many decades of touring sideshow history.

As part of this memoir, we get:

* the cross-dressing and daring personality of The Amazing Mister Lifto (Joe Hermann),
* Bebe the Circus Queen (Beatrice Aschard) and spouse Jim Rose as they exert a controlling and morale-killing hold on The Marvels,
* Matt "The Tube" Crowley, whose experimentation leads him to invent the stomach pump tube act known as Gavage
* Zamora the Torture King (Tim Cridland) and co-author finds even his incredible levels of endurance cannot allow him to persist with Rose. But, I distinctly recall talking to him (and seeing what looked like pierced cheeks) at The Shelter in Detroit. In my mind, this was an aftershow for 14 October 1994. So, either he was still with Rose then or it was an earlier, unrelated performance such as Lollapalooza 1992 or State Theater on Devil's Night, 1993.
* The Enigma (Paul Lawrence), was originally known as Slug and would eat anything (including slugs, worms, and grasshoppers), and swallow swords. He also doubled as the show's organ player. Here he transforms into The Enigma and has his body being to be completely tattooed with blue jigsaw puzzle pieces as he raises a family and defines his own destiny.

[Molly Siskin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories and details about how their acts were developed were really fascinating, but some of the characters, especially the author himself came off extremely unlikable and I was not rooting for them.
The way they spoke about women in this book made them feel 100% interchangeable. I ended up visualizing them all as Jessica Simpson with different hair colors and no personality. 30+ year-old Jan's "romance" with 21-year-old Cass, appears to have been intended to be earnest? But he just seemed so so so so creepy.

This book was too long. At times quite misogynistic at other times just very repetitive. I don't think I would have been interested enough to finish it if I weren't already very interested in the topic.
On the other hand, this story is really fascinating and if you are interested in modern side show, it is really great to be able to hear from people who were there. Also the illustrations were all incredibly beautiful.

[Erica Pamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book near and dear to my heart. Reading this I felt like I was on tour with the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow. A fun behind the scenes look of some of sideshow history's most interesting characters.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Rose and the crazies have taken over!

[Harrison Rip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave up halfway through. This book is so boring and tedious for anyone who is not an extreme philologist. The first couple pages give away the whole story (guy driven crazy by syphilis submitted lots of words to the OED) then there are hundreds of pages of boring detail about words. One other interesting thing happens in the first half but it's not worth reading all this trash to get to. And I'm still giving up halfway.

[Nilquest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definately a different perspective on Jim Rose's personality. This book gives a lot more info on the other founders of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow where as Freak like me focuses only on Jim Rose.

[Polly Krize · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Life inside a circus sideshow in all its brutality and glory! Touring the globe, the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow was a whirlwind of human emotions with the lives of the performers brought to life through diary entries, drawings, and also the author's voice. Fascinating.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I really enjoyed this book eventhough I had no idea what it would be like. It really does give you a inside perspective on what a Circus Sideshow is and what it entails. At the start of the story, everyone seems to get on but as the countless shows add up year after year the cracks start to show. People's characters show their true colours. In the end I didn't like Jim Rose and how he was with the rest of the troupe. I thought he was a money grabbing, self opinionated and no empathy for anyone else. This book won't be for everyone but if you like the darker side of things and the subject of Circus Sideshows interests you, this book is for you.