The advance man

by Jamie F. MacVicar

And so begins a fascinating journey into the world of the circus as Jamie MacVicar skillfully blends the secrets of marketing and promotion as taught by the masters, a captivating personal tale, and an inside look at an American icon, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Richly textured and meticulously researched, The Advance Man is an incomparable bridge from the circus past to the present. It is a spellbinding narrative inhabited by strange and seductive characters: Chang and Eng, the Siamese twins who couldn't be engaged in unlike conversations simultaneously; Irvin Feld, the Napoleonic genius who wrested control of the circus from Ringling's heir; the smallest man in the world who continuously stymied the show s most virile man; the naive, young woman who risked too much aspiring to become a model; the Cleveland tycoon and a host of others from extraordinary everyday people to well-known celebrities.