Showmen & Suckers By Maurice Gorham/Magicantic /5255

There's a streak of the sucker in all of us, and part of the showmen's job is to bring it out. We look to him for thrills, danger, mystification, sex appeal. How far does he gratify us? This book travels through the circuses, music halls, sports arenas, pantomimes and fairgrounds, recalling memorable shows both good and bad and discussing what the spectator really wants, how much he will stand, and how far the showman can go.

The author knows something of show business from both sides of the curtain, but he writes as an ever-hopeful spectator at everything from the Flea Circus to the Drury Lane pantomime, casting many curious sidelights on the odd people and odd things that flourish on the crazy fringe