Starting in the 1870s; the barns; icehouses; gymnasiums and empty theaters of central Illinois provided the practice sites for aerial performers whose names still command reverence in the annals of American circus history. Meet Fred Miltimore and the Green Brothers; runaways from the Fourth Ward School who became the first Bloomington-born flyers. Watch Art Concello; a ten-year-old truant; become first a world-class flyer; then a famous trapeze impresario and finally Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circuss most successful general manager. The entire art of the trapeze--instruction; training; performance and management--became a Bloomington-Normal industry during the tented shows golden age; when finding a circus flying act without a connection to this area would have been virtually impossible.
#2358580 in eBooks 2009-11-02 2009-11-02File Name: B00XQW9LJU
Review
6 of 23 people found the following review helpful. Good but...strangely empty - even if...By xxxxJust finished reading this yesterday; liked a lot about it - his style; his way of describing things; his nose and knees...knees and nose; did fingers...? did eyes...? - but one strange thing: this book seemed to have the uncanny ability to put me to sleep; no matter what the time of day. Also; when finished; book was tossed on bed and not given another seconds thought. Wondered: does that mean something? About this book? About the nature of fiction? I mean; what is the point of it all? Is it just mental distraction; a way to fill the head; to substitute the words of another for thoughts of our own; or is there something more to it than that? And then; if there is something to this writing malarkey; why not produce what is real; what actually happened? Isnt fact stranger; and stronger than fiction? How am I to be inspired by this? What can I learn? (And please dont tell me Indian history!) Does anybody know what Im saying?
