The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum

I've always been curious about P.T. Barnum. He wrote a few business books, and he intended to public an autobiography, but just never got around to it. There have been a couple other books about Barnum. There has been a lot said about him. Some of it true, and some of it not. He never said, "There is a sucker born every minute." Actually, it was a competitor, commenting on Barnum's success, who possibly uttered these words. It was believed that Barnum had sucked people into visiting his museum and circuses, but in reality, he just put on a good show, and gave the people what they wanted. Sometimes, people wanted to be fooled. In-fact, part of the fun of Barnum's museum was trying to guess what was real and what was not. People often knew they were being tricked. The game was to determine how he was tricking you, much the same way magic works.Barnum also introduced many things, to many people, that they had not seen before. He revolutionized show-business. Before Barnum, the circus simply could not travel everywhere, and be seen by everyone. Barnum created a way for the circus to travel by train, that is still used to this day. Barnum also created the 3-ring circus, because his show was the largest in the world, and he wanted to make sure, that everyone had a good seat, and didn't miss a moment of the action.To his dying day, all he really wanted to do was entertain people. I think this book is good for both children and adults. Its a pretty easy read, and I purchased the audiobook, which I listened to during my work-out. I really enjoyed the narrator, and the audiobook came with an interactive CD-Rom program, that featured extra trivia, and photos.We can still see Barnum's influences in everyday life. The way things are marketed are influenced by Barnum. Even the word Jumbo refers to an elephant once owned by Barnum, which was the largest Elephant in the world. Barnum's story is jumbo, just like his life.

A Great book about the ultimate showman. This was a fun read and gives a great deal of insight into the life of P.T. Barnum. Sadly Political Correctness has caused the R.B.B.B Circus to close up shop as animal rights activists have fooled many municipalities into banning Elephants in their Town. Hence a GREAT AMERICAN Institution which EMPLOYED THOUSANDS and brought smiles to countless youngsters is now in the past. That aside, this is an interesting story about a Great showman, and a time gone by.

I bought this book after seeing the Hugh Jackman movie, "The Greatest Showman." That movie was fun, and so is this book. They're both about Barnum, but the movie has almost no resemblance to the reality of Barnum's actual life. This book is told in an engaging manner that's accompanied by photos of Barnum, his exhibits, his houses and posters galore trumpeting the King of Humbug. I normally hate biographies, but I loved this one.

I enjoyed this book! Great writer!

When I ordered this, I didn't realize that it's a "junior reader" sort of book. As it turned out, it was exactly what I wanted - an overview of Barnum's life rather than a detailed standard biography plus numerous photographs and illustrations. Based upon the bibliography, it was thoroughly researched.

See the movie - be fascinated by the Real story behind the legend who created legends! Arrived almost as soon as I ordered it, and carefully wrapped! Peta doomed his amazing, enlightening, enthralling circus, but Barnum's legacy will always live on in story.... and song!

My 10 year old loved the Greatest Showman and wondered how accurate it was, so we got him this book. He was instantly reeled into the book and found out there was a lot of license taken with Barnum's character in the movie. The book has great pictures and the layout makes it easy and fun to read. This is an excellent biography for older kids.

It was a gift. However I did enjoy reading it.