“The sideshow is the metaphor for the turn of the millennium”—James Taylor. “This is a book about people’s motives, their drives, their joys. It is not intended as another exposé of the sideshow business nor as a collection of cheap shots at the showmen and performers who appear here.”
If the Shocked and Amazed books are “periodicals,” as the author claims, then they are the sort that encourages one to collect the entire set to put into a pissy binder in order to lord it over friends because “these are all the original issues.”
Everything but the covers is in black and white, but that’s not a major loss. There are some great all-color titles to be had on sideshow art. The stock in trade of Shocked and Amazed are stories and information using first rate source material. And what a wealth of information it is!
This first volume includes James Taylor on the true nature of sideshow publishing; an account of Ward Hall, renowned “King of the Sideshows”; the Supreme Court ruling that gave the green light to sideshows; a tour of sideshows within spitting distance of the Big Apple; a portfolio of the work of the photographer Kobel (a specialist in the unusual); a piece on a lady sword swallower who was immortalized by Diane Arbus; a chapter from Jim Tully’s Circus Parade, a guide to sideshow lingo, a source list for sideshow collectibles and a bibliography. SA

Publisher: Atomic
Paperback: 80 pages
Illustrated

Volume 2 proves that Taylor has tapped into a rich vein of source material. Once again, the theme is sideshow lore. Taylor’s attitude toward his subjects is “Nobility is what you make it.” Indeed, they are treated as the greatest nobles alive, whether they are “playing the hand they were dealt” or purveying an unusual skill. There is nothing mean-spirited about this presentation, only a genuine love of the unusual.
Includes: “the world’s strangest married couple” (Jeanie Tomaini, the half girl who’s all heart at 2 feet 6 inches and the American giant Al Tomaini); a photo spread of “half people”; the intimate lives and loves of the Hilton sisters (Siamese twins); Sammy Ross, the world’s smallest entertainer; sideshow fat man Bruce Snowdon; a reprint of a whole magazine that is dedicated to midgets; a sideshow memoir in the spirit of Daniel Mannix by Walt Hudson, an in-depth look at a flea circus; a profile of a knife thrower; assorted short features; and more sideshow lingo. SA

Publisher: Atomic
Paperback: 104 pages
Illustrated

Includes: “Anatomical Wonder!”, “I Was a Teenage Blockhead!”, “She Never Asked To Be Born!”, “Gorilla Show!” and more.

Publisher: Atomic
Paperback: 104 pages
Illustrated