Description |
1 online resource |
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text file rda |
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Digital content provided by hoopla. |
Summary |
P. T. Barnum's career of showmanship and charlatanry was marked by a surprising undercurrent of honesty and forthrightness. His exuberant autobiography forms a happy combination of all those traits, revealing the whole story of his world-famous hoaxes and publicity stunts. Here is a pageant of nineteenth-century America's gullibility and thirst for marvels, as told by the master of revels himself. A born storyteller, Barnum recalls his association with Tom Thumb, his audience with Queen Victoria, and his trouble keeping Jenny Lind's angelic image intact during a trying tour. He tells of Jumbo, the most famous elephant in history, from the creature's heroic arrival in America to its tragic death in a railroad accident; of his attempts to transfer Shakespeare's house and Madame Tussaud's Waxworks from England to New York; and of his triumphant reentry into public life after financial failure and five disastrous fires had all but wiped him out. The true-life tale of a man of boundless imagination and indomitable energy, Barnum's autobiography embodies the spirit of America's most exciting boom years. |
System Details |
Mode of access: World Wide Web. |
Subject |
Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891.
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Circus owners -- United States -- Biography.
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Electronic books.
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Added Author |
hoopla digital.
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ISBN |
9780486824758 (electronic bk.) |
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0486824756 (electronic bk.) |
Music No. |
MWT11950312 |
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