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The Resource Barnum : an American life, Robert Wilson

Barnum : an American life, Robert Wilson

Creator
Author
Summary
"The first major biography of P.T. Barnum in a generation, a vivid account of the forefather of American entertainment. P. T. Barnum was the greatest showman the world has ever seen: the cocreator of the Barnum & Bailey Circus and the man who made worldwide sensations of Jumbo the Elephant, General Tom Thumb, and the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind. He was the champion of wonder, joy, trickery, and "humbug." He was, as Barnum argues, one of the most important Americans of the nineteenth century. Nearly 125 years after his death, the name P. T. Barnum still inspires wonder. Robert Wilson's vivid new biography captures the full genius, infamy, and allure of the ebullient showman. From birth to death, Phineas Taylor Barnum repeatedly reinvented himself. He learned as a young man how to wow crowds, and built a fortune that placed him among the first millionaires in the United States. He also suffered tragedy, bankruptcy, and fires that destroyed his life's work, yet willed himself to rebuild and succeed again. As an entertainer, Barnum courted controversy time and again throughout his life--yet he was also a man of strong convictions, guided in his work not by a desire to deceive but an eagerness to thrill and bring joy to his audiences. He almost certainly never uttered the infamous line, "There's a sucker born every minute," instead taking pride in giving crowds their money's worth and more. Robert Wilson, editor of The American Scholar, tells a gripping story in Barnum, one that's imbued with the same buoyant spirit as the man himself. Wilson adeptly makes the case for P. T. Barnum's place among the icons of American history, as a figure who represented, and indeed created, a distinctly American sense of optimism, industriousness, humor, and relentless energy."--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Extent
x, 341 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates
Note
  • "Simon & Schuster nonfiction original hardcover"
  • "Simon & Schuster nonfiction original hardcover"
Contents
  • Introduction: "Do you know Barnum?"
  • The richest child in town
  • The nursemaid
  • On Broadway
  • The mermaid
  • The general
  • The queen
  • The continent
  • At home
  • The voice
  • Temples of entertainment
  • Before the fall
  • Putting out fires
  • A ruined man
  • The war and a wedding
  • Fire!
  • Show fever
  • Marriage bonds
  • Excitement, pepper & mustard
  • And Bailey
  • Last years
Isbn
9781501118623
Instance
Label
Barnum : an American life
Title
Barnum
Title remainder
an American life
Statement of responsibility
Robert Wilson
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"The first major biography of P.T. Barnum in a generation, a vivid account of the forefather of American entertainment. P. T. Barnum was the greatest showman the world has ever seen: the cocreator of the Barnum & Bailey Circus and the man who made worldwide sensations of Jumbo the Elephant, General Tom Thumb, and the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind. He was the champion of wonder, joy, trickery, and "humbug." He was, as Barnum argues, one of the most important Americans of the nineteenth century. Nearly 125 years after his death, the name P. T. Barnum still inspires wonder. Robert Wilson's vivid new biography captures the full genius, infamy, and allure of the ebullient showman. From birth to death, Phineas Taylor Barnum repeatedly reinvented himself. He learned as a young man how to wow crowds, and built a fortune that placed him among the first millionaires in the United States. He also suffered tragedy, bankruptcy, and fires that destroyed his life's work, yet willed himself to rebuild and succeed again. As an entertainer, Barnum courted controversy time and again throughout his life--yet he was also a man of strong convictions, guided in his work not by a desire to deceive but an eagerness to thrill and bring joy to his audiences. He almost certainly never uttered the infamous line, "There's a sucker born every minute," instead taking pride in giving crowds their money's worth and more. Robert Wilson, editor of The American Scholar, tells a gripping story in Barnum, one that's imbued with the same buoyant spirit as the man himself. Wilson adeptly makes the case for P. T. Barnum's place among the icons of American history, as a figure who represented, and indeed created, a distinctly American sense of optimism, industriousness, humor, and relentless energy."--
Writing style
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Biography type
individual biography
http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/bookUI
10802043
Cataloging source
LBSOR/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1951 February 21-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Wilson, Robert
Dewey number
  • 791.3092
  • B
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • plates
Index
index present
LC call number
GV1811.B3
LC item number
W57 2019
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred
True
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Barnum, P. T.
  • Circus owners
http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/titleRemainder
an American life
Label
Barnum : an American life, Robert Wilson
Instantiates
Publication
Note
  • "Simon & Schuster nonfiction original hardcover"
  • "Simon & Schuster nonfiction original hardcover"
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages [291]-295) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Contents
Introduction: "Do you know Barnum?" -- The richest child in town -- The nursemaid -- On Broadway -- The mermaid -- The general -- The queen -- The continent -- At home -- The voice -- Temples of entertainment -- Before the fall -- Putting out fires -- A ruined man -- The war and a wedding -- Fire! -- Show fever -- Marriage bonds -- Excitement, pepper & mustard -- And Bailey -- Last years
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Extent
x, 341 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9781501118623
Lccn
2019000245
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations (some color)
System control number
  • 3236005
  • (OCoLC)on1083699231
Label
Barnum : an American life, Robert Wilson
Publication
Note
  • "Simon & Schuster nonfiction original hardcover"
  • "Simon & Schuster nonfiction original hardcover"
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages [291]-295) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Contents
Introduction: "Do you know Barnum?" -- The richest child in town -- The nursemaid -- On Broadway -- The mermaid -- The general -- The queen -- The continent -- At home -- The voice -- Temples of entertainment -- Before the fall -- Putting out fires -- A ruined man -- The war and a wedding -- Fire! -- Show fever -- Marriage bonds -- Excitement, pepper & mustard -- And Bailey -- Last years
Dimensions
25 cm
Edition
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Extent
x, 341 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9781501118623
Lccn
2019000245
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations (some color)
System control number
  • 3236005
  • (OCoLC)on1083699231

Subject

Genre

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