What is so fascinating about circus life?

[kfwilson6]

I think the transient nature of the circus is what is traditionally attractive about it. It's a job that can be gotten easily, even if you have a record, or you're homeless, or an addict, whatever. It's an opportunity to travel, and also a means of cover if you need to keep moving around to avoid being found by someone. It takes you to new places, lets you meet new and interesting people, so it feels adventurous. But also, it's all about performance and living a life built around a stage. Some people just gravitate towards that.

From what is depicted in the book, the circus family seems like a very welcoming bunch. They embrace everyone's "weird." It can be an opportunity to start over. You can really be anyone you want to be as a member of the circus crew. Maybe that makes people feel like they can be anyone they want to be too when they are in the crowd watching the performances.

[Lolo Skyooz]

Yeah, very true. Like an adoptive family. When you travel so much as a group I suppose it becomes difficult to find much of a place with outsiders, or it serves as a pretty good excuse to not even try.

[Katherine Smith]

I think that I like the circus because it is band of misfits that come together as a family when your own family doesn't support you. The thing that I don't like about the circus was the mistreatment of animals especially elephants. I like that modern circuses are about human performers such as acrobats and aerialists. I think that there must be a lot of downtime in between performances and lot of traveling.

[Moonlightstar]

Wow this is amazing, never knew so much about the circus, yes the animals are being captivated in these cages, but the circus is always a fun place for children to go and enjoy.

[Cristina Chifane]

I don't plan to read this book, but I'd be happy to answer your first two questions:

I believe I'm fascinated by the circus, not to mention street performers, just because I'm so fascinated with the performers' talents. It's not everyday that you can just walk into a place and see someone "taming" a lion or swallowing swords or walking on a high-wire. Not even here in Chicago, *lmao!*

And even though I haven't gone to a circus in quite some time, I'd go in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity. You can already tell that I'm still a child at heart, so I love all things that allow me to revel in my inner youth.

You know, at first I thought the same as you did. I mean, I didn't consider the book exactly my kind of book. I still planned to read it because I promised myself I would read alll books of the month as I think they must have something special to be chosen as such. I've read the first part of the book so far and I can tell you I didn't regret it. On the contrary, I was pleasantly surprised to discover an author who promises a lot. He really does a good job in describing Duke and his journey through life.

[Cristina Chifane]

I believe the circus, to many seems like an entirely different life. A whole different world. So much so it becomes a comical saying, I quit and I'm going to run away and join the circus. It's an escape maybe from the ho hum life that we seem to fall into. I imagine it would especially be alluring if you liked to travel. What a great way to "see the world". I myself have never been fascinated with the circus. I find the death defying acts to frightening, the clowns silly and the lion tamers crazy. But that is just my opinion. I'll stick to my old routine that I am comfortable with.

In Duke's case, he had no routine to be comfortable with. For him, the circus represented the world outside of Somerville, a place the 15-year-old boy desperately wanted to escape. He truly believes the circus to be a magical place and he never seems to get over his fascination, no matter the hard conditions of circus life.

[Cristina Chifane]

The mirage of circus life is like delving into a counterculture that is so different than the norm that it fascinates me. Watching the way the different groups (clowns, sideshow acts, etc) interacted with each other intrigues me. I've read other books about circus life but none that went into depth about the drug culture.

You're perfectly right on that. I loved the way Gary Robinson described Duke's transformation from a lost kid running away with the circus to Mr. Sideshow, "a modern day counterculture icon" who spends 40 years with the circus and finally gets to be interviewed on Jerry Springer's show.

[Cristina Chifane]

I believe that the circus is so appealing to people because it is like it's own world. Everything operates within circus rules and guidelines and everyone pitches in and becomes part of this much bigger thing. You can run away from problems and unfortunately you end up facing a lot of new ones.

I do not currently visit any circus that comes through my state. I love how mystical the circus can seem and I hate how the workers treat the circus animals.

Duke's circus life is full of drugs and behavior that somewhat mirrors thrill seeking. A lot of people that join in on the dangerous acts are adrenaline junkies or in it for the fame because of a trade/talent they have mastered.

I felt like in some ways, that life was satisfying to him but it also helped fuel other issues he was having. Being around a lot of users and alcoholics makes that type of thing a very regular part of anyone's routine even if they don't initially partake.

I get the feeling Duke feels the circus people become his family in ways his own family could not have been. Gary Robinson writes that people looked at the sideshow performers as victims, but that was contrary to how the "freaks" actually viewed themselves. According to Duke, the sideshow afforded them financial independence and "a fellowship for lost souls." When it comes to drug addiction, this is a totally different dicussion. I only want to add one thing here. The circus administrators themselves allowed the employees to take a certain dose of methamphetamine to be abe to cope with the exhausting circus schedule and working conditions.

[Cristina Chifane]

One of the protagonists in Gary Robison's book is Duke Reynolds, a man who runs away from a dysfunctional family environment to join the traveling circus. He soon becomes the Sword Swallower and entertains people not only inside the circus tent, but also on every city street corner.

Duke's plunge into circus life reminded me of the Russian literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin who saw the carnival and carnivalesque as a celebration of freedom, a means of escaping social norms and conventions. At the circus, we are all ready to embrace the carnival atmosphere and forget restrictions.

1. What do you think of the mirage of circus life in general?
2. Are you still going to the circus? What do you love/hate most about the circus?
3. How is circus life described in the book?
4. Is Duke satisfied with his new life as a sword swallower?

1. The mirage of circus life makes it seem far beyond what I could ever do and it sounds like a lot of hard work.

2. I have never been to a circus. What I love most is the comradery and trust, but I hate the implications that people would abuse the animals that they work with

3. Circus life is described as a big family that works hard and does a lot of travel.

4. It appears that Duke is satisfied with being a sword swallower, especially since he's a big adrenaline junkie that was always finding ways to entice his audience.

Try going to the circus once! It's one thing reading about it and quite another experiencing it. I agree with you about the animal abuse, but the circus world is much more than that.

[Cristina Chifane]

The glamour of circus life draws people from all walks of life. Our curiosity is what makes us want to know what is happening behind the curtain! I've never attended a full-on circus, with animals, I've only seen Cirque du Soleil. I enjoyed Cirque du Soleil; the acrobatics and dance elements were phenomenal. I don't think I would enjoy the circus, with the animals and other elements. The sword swallower scares me.

You know, a few years ago, I went to a circus where there was this number with snakes. At a certain moment in the show, the performers were coming among the audience and placing big curling snakes on our shoulders. The point was to make us become a part of their show. I was scared, as you said about the sword swallower, but I got to understand their world much better. I also remember one scene from the novel. Duke goes to spend his night at some motel and the lady there is terrfied by his tatoos. He realizes this and tries to make her feel comfortable. What I want to say is that appearances can be quite deceiving and it can never hurt to try and see things from a different perspective.

[Cristina Chifane]

I think it's the excitement of watching others lead a daring life that draws many people in. I've never been to a circus though. I've just never had the opportunity. I don't like the idea of animals being mistreated or leading a confined life though. It would be interesting to see the human acts though.

The treatment of animals certainly is a concern. I think that’s why Cirque du Soleil has gained so much popularity. They focus on the human aspects and the daring nature.

I thought it was interesting how the hippo in this book was treated. It shows a good example of how the animals might be treated in the circus. The poor hippo was brought along in one of the oldest, worst trucks, and lost its life because the circus was unwilling to do something about it. I think for the hippo, at least, the circus was a sort of prison.

While Duke and many of the other sideshow characters found the circus to be family and freedom, I think there were others who felt like it was a sort of prison. For example, the clowns did not seem to be completely happy with their lives. Why not? Duke says they were mostly tortured souls, but what drew them to the circus? Was it that they could not do some other form of acting? Was it something else? I don’t think we get an answer here, but it does make me ponder this further.

It's really interesting how circus life could cover both freedom and confinement. As for what happened to the hippo in the novel, you must remember what Duke's reaction was: "The show must go on." Tough, but pretty realistic considering everything we learn about circus life at the time. In a way, it's also very sad because I have the feeling life has taught these people to accept things as they are and be happy with so little. As for the clowns, I don't know. I was thinking of Bert, the head clown who later on turns into a sort of business man. He doen't lose his sense of humor, though. He tells Duke life behind a desk is still a show in its own right. The metaphor gets bigger and all their performances become a part of the bigger play which is life itself. I guess the clown are the saddest because they understand the irony of life much better than all of us. They always pretend to be happy to make other people happy, but they are never truly happy.

[Kendra M Parker]

I think it's the excitement of watching others lead a daring life that draws many people in. I've never been to a circus though. I've just never had the opportunity. I don't like the idea of animals being mistreated or leading a confined life though. It would be interesting to see the human acts though.

The treatment of animals certainly is a concern. I think that’s why Cirque du Soleil has gained so much popularity. They focus on the human aspects and the daring nature.

I thought it was interesting how the hippo in this book was treated. It shows a good example of how the animals might be treated in the circus. The poor hippo was brought along in one of the oldest, worst trucks, and lost its life because the circus was unwilling to do something about it. I think for the hippo, at least, the circus was a sort of prison.

While Duke and many of the other sideshow characters found the circus to be family and freedom, I think there were others who felt like it was a sort of prison. For example, the clowns did not seem to be completely happy with their lives. Why not? Duke says they were mostly tortured souls, but what drew them to the circus? Was it that they could not do some other form of acting? Was it something else? I don’t think we get an answer here, but it does make me ponder this further.

It's really interesting how circus life could cover both freedom and confinement. As for what happened to the hippo in the novel, you must remember what Duke's reaction was: "The show must go on." Tough, but pretty realistic considering everything we learn about circus life at the time. In a way, it's also very sad because I have the feeling life has taught these people to accept things as they are and be happy with so little. As for the clowns, I don't know. I was thinking of Bert, the head clown who later on turns into a sort of business man. He doen't lose his sense of humor, though. He tells Duke life behind a desk is still a show in its own right. The metaphor gets bigger and all their performances become a part of the bigger play which is life itself. I guess the clown are the saddest because they understand the irony of life much better than all of us. They always pretend to be happy to make other people happy, but they are never truly happy.

You’re right, they did focus on “the show must go on.” And I like your point about the metaphor it becomes for life itself. That reminds me of the Shakespeare quote, “All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts...”

Both Gary and Duke played different parts in their lives, sometimes even at the same time. Neglected or abused children, addict, show-person, and recovering addict. Maybe that’s part of what drew Duke and Gary together. They saw in each other some of the same roles they had played themselves. There was an understanding between them.

[faceadventure]

I would only go to a circus that has only human performers, who are there willingly and are not being mistreated. People are often drawn to the circus lif because of the mysthical and magical atmosphere. They don't realise how hard it is in reality.

[kfwilson6]

You’re right, they did focus on “the show must go on.” And I like your point about the metaphor it becomes for life itself. That reminds me of the Shakespeare quote, “All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts...”

Both Gary and Duke played different parts in their lives, sometimes even at the same time. Neglected or abused children, addict, show-person, and recovering addict. Maybe that’s part of what drew Duke and Gary together. They saw in each other some of the same roles they had played themselves. There was an understanding between them.

While everyone else goes to work and has to put on a certain face to meet job expectations or to cover up their feelings for any number of reasons, those in the circus can be more themselves at work than just about anyone else. How many times have we gone to work feeling down about something going on in our personal lives but we had to put a smile on and pretend like we couldn't be happier to be at work? The circus people were happy to be at work and they didn't have to pretend to be anyone they aren't. I'm sure it's refreshing to spend all day every day being just who you are.

[kfwilson6]

I would only go to a circus that has only human performers, who are there willingly and are not being mistreated. People are often drawn to the circus lif because of the mysthical and magical atmosphere. They don't realise how hard it is in reality.

This book is very enlightening in regards to just how hard circus life is. Who didn't feel bad for the hippo when reading this book? Some of the less informed of us might think that their jobs are easy. They perform a few hours a day and then they don't have anything to do after that. But when you are a performer, driver, and part of the set-up and break down crew, you don't get to rest. Hopefully technological advancements have made it easier for the circus to change locations. And maybe now they don't need to move as far to get from one big city to the next due to the growth of the population in the US.