The Fabulous Showman

A Biography of P. T. Barnum

By: Irving Wallace

Narrated by: Tyson Underwood

This is a fast-paced, carefully documented, and rich biography of Barnum, the greatest showman of all time, the American from Bethel, Connecticut, whose eccentricities and oblique, cynical approach to humanity transformed entertainment into a big, incredibly profitable business. As bachelor, husband (twice), father, and grandfather, Barnum comes to life in Mr. Wallace's crowded audiobook, an exceedingly interesting and human man. Here, too, are New York City in all its 19th century color, the London of Queen Victoria, and the Paris of Napoleon III.

In 1842, Barnum opened the first of the great museums of curiosities and freaks, adding immeasurably to the gaiety of New York life. He exhibited the tiny Charles Sherwood Stratton so successfully that he became known as General Tom Thumb, a world-famous figure. In 1850, Barnum imported Jenny Lind for a concert tour beginning at Castle Garden (later the Aquarium in Battery Park), which more than prefigured the later exploits of S. Hurok. When past 60, Barnum opened in Brooklyn "The Greatest Show on Earth," the first great American traveling circus. Combining 10 years later with James Anthony Bailey, he gave to millions of American children and grownups The Barnum and Bailey Circus. He bought from the London Zoological Society the huge elephant that became known everywhere as Jumbo. And always, he shrewdly understood that people did not mind being fooled ("There's a sucker born every minute"), if they were only entertained.

Besides the towering figure of Barnum himself, this audiobook's cast of characters includes not only Jenny Lind, Jumbo, and Tom Thumb, but also such ill-assorted figures as Chang and Eng (the original Siamese Twins), Queen Victoria herself, captive white whales, The Feejee Mermaid, and Abraham Lincoln.

©1959 David Wallechinsky (P)2017 David N. Wilson

Excellent book read by an amateur

PT Barnum is a remarkable and inspiring character, as explored in this volume. However, the reader rarely pauses to take a breath, and doesn’t seem to give a single thought to performing the story of one of the world’s best performers.

Really interesting. I learned a lot.

This was a really great book. I learn a lot about the subject and the time. It's great when it's written so you don't just get to know things about the person, you also feel like your there.

Downright fawning

As biographies go this couldn’t be much more glowing an example of hero worship. It feels very outdated with its 1950s era talk of negros, circus freaks, and savage Indians. It covers the major events of Barnum’s life effectively but goes into detail only occasionally when the author sees a good opportunity to gush about how great his hero was. To be fair Barnum has always seemed to me be a very interesting character and any biography of him is sure to be pretty grand, but this one is a bit 2 dimensional.

Excellent stony read poorly.

The narrator is clearly late for an appointment, thus making the listen somewhat of a disappointment. The story is so good that you should listen anyway!

well organized historical drauma

inspiring unfiltered narrative of times very different troubled ideas different rom today's world view ,