| Barnum's Own Story: The Autobiography of P. T. Barnum Contributor(s): Barnum, P. T. (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 0486811875 ISBN-13: 9780486811871 Publisher: Dover Publications OUR PRICE: $13.46 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2017 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Artists, Architects, Photographers - Biography & Autobiography | Entertainment & Performing Arts |
| Dewey: 927.913 |
| LCCN: 2017012009 |
| Physical Information: 1.2" H x 5.5" W x 8.5" (1.60 lbs) 512 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: P. T. Barnum's career of showmanship and charlatanry was marked by a surprising undercurrent of honesty and forthrightness. His exuberant autobiography forms a happy combination of all those traits, revealing the whole story of his world-famous hoaxes and publicity stunts. Here is a pageant of nineteenth-century America's gullibility and thirst for marvels, as told by the master of revels himself. A born storyteller, Barnum recalls his association with Tom Thumb, his audience with Queen Victoria, and his trouble keeping Jenny Lind's angelic image intact during a trying tour. He tells of Jumbo, the most famous elephant in history, from the creature's heroic arrival in America to its tragic death in a railroad accident; of his attempts to transfer Shakespeare's house and Madame Tussaud's Waxworks from England to New York; and of his triumphant reentry into public life after financial failure and five disastrous fires had all but wiped him out. The true-life tale of a man of boundless imagination and indomitable energy, Barnum's autobiography embodies the spirit of America's most exciting boom years. |