Rating: 
Summary: Very engrossing and moving!
Review: I don't usually like Stuart O'Nan's fiction, but this work (of non-fiction) is quite good. It's the true story of a fire that broke out at a Ringling Brother's circus and killed hundreds of people. Very exciting, and very moving as it detailed what happened--a tragedy that could easily have been avoided if the tent hadn't been soaked in gasoline!
Rating:
Summary: The Most Terrible Show on Earth
Review: This is a dynamite book. The author is sensitive the horrors of the disaster, thorough in tracking down the causes and repercussions, and manages to be both matter-of-fact and evocative when describing the scenes. I particularly liked the way he debunked various myths of the fire, while tactfully explaining how they'd come about.
Rating: 
Summary: Circus Fire Tragedy
Review: If you grew up in Connecticut, you probably heard stories about the Hartford Circus Fire. On July 6, 1944 a fire broke out during a matinee performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, 167 people were killed (mostly women and children). The fire is etched into the memory of the people of Connecticut and survivors still feel the physical and emotional effects of the blaze. The Circus Fire, by Stewart O'Nan not only provides the facts about the fire but also brings to life the people who were forever changed by the events of that tragic day. "At Saint Francis Hospital, a six-year old visited his mother for the first time since the fire. The mother had crawled on top of her son as the flames rolled over them. It worked; the boy was only slightly burned. The mother was in serious condition, but she would live." "In Hartford, a trible funeral of one mother and her two sons drew a crowd..Her husband didn't attend; he'd collapsed upon hearing the news and was in seclusion." O'Nan conducted extensive interviews with survivors and has done an excellent job telling their stories. The 1944 fire was as devasting to Hartford as the bombing in Oklahoman City. Everyone in the community knew someone who was killed or injured in the blaze. While the story of the fire is fascinating, the memories of the survivors make the book unique. You do not have to love history or be a circus buff to enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: History brought to life
Review: I grew up in Connecticut, so all my life on the anniversary of the Circus Fire, articles would appear in the local newspaper but never seemed to tell the whole story of what happened afterwards in the lives of those who were touched by this tragedy. Stewart O'Nan does a fantastic job of putting together many of the pieces of this disaster and does so in an interesting and informative way. The subject of the Circus Fire was always thought-provoking, as my dad had a chance to attend the circus that day and did not go . . . . I may never have existed if he had made the trip!
Rating: 
Summary: A complete disappointment
Review: It is difficult to believe that such a slow and dull book could be written about such a compelling subject. The reviewers who have lamented the short, choppy paragraphs that irritatingly jump from one scene to another, without benefit of full explanation or connection, are correct to scorn the overall poor writing that makes up this book. I had to read some paragraphs several times and even then didn't understand what I was reading. It was nearly impossible to picture most of the action in my mind, as it was mostly just a jumbled collection of facts and anecdotes that rambled on and on and on. The description of the fire itself drags on chaotically for fifty tedious pages, which incited one yawn after another. The book lacks any sense of focus and the author uses a very poor choice of words in many instances. For example, the narrative is littered with sentences like: "She made for the east exit..." Okay, fine, but did she run, walk, crawl, hop, skip, jump, or fly to the east exit? I just don't know what to picture there. The word "made" says nothing descriptive and is therefor about the worst word that could have been chosen. This type of problem occurs on every page of the book. I haven't read anything else the author has written, so I hate to be so critical. I wonder, however, why his editor didn't send his manuscript back to him with thousands of suggestions. I felt as if I was reading a very hastily-prepared early draft. I have read many gripping books about disasters and survival situations. This just isn't one of them. Compare "The Circus Fire" to "Into Thin Air," "Heart of the Sea," "Batavia's Graveyard," or "Ordeal by Hunger" and you'll understand what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: A keeper!
Review: I am sure that any decent writer who was willing to dig through the archives and old newspaper stories could have written a good book about the Hartford circus fire. For Stewart O'Nan however, that was not enough. He not only did the research that any author would do when writing about a historical event; he tracked down the survivors. That is what makes this book so good. The stories told by the survivors make the whole story much more personal and much more tragic. On top of all this, O'Nan's writing style is superb. As a novelist who usually deals in fiction he writes in a very engrossing manner that keeps the reader's interest from cover to cover. The chapters are divided by dates and O'Nan takes each of the several families he follows in detail from their preparations for the circus to the very end. Whether that end is death or recovery we get the whole story. In this way the reader is able to connect in a personal way with the victims. If they escaped we find out how they got out. If they required hospitalization we get the story of their recovery. If they are killed we are taken through the identification process and some of the funerals. O'Nan even follows two of the survivors into their careers as firemen. The reader is also treated to the inner politics of the Ringling family and the power struggle after the fire. Along the way we meet circus people who were indeed negligent, politicians who struggled to cover their own negligence, nurses, doctors, and lots of policemen. We also meet many heroes; many of them policemen and firemen just like on 9/11. O'Nan spares no detail but he never gets boring. The reader will also get a good feel for 1944. The circus was short on workers because of the war. Hartford's residents were prospering because of the war industries. Gas and food ration stamps were so precious that the police were amazed that so many people turned in stamp books found on the midway or still in the smoldering big top. This book is just simply fascinating all the way around. Finally, O'Nan takes the reader up to 1999, Fifty-five years after the fire. That fifty-five years brings new investigations, new theories, new suspects, and the end of Ringling Brothers' days as a tent show. In 1994 there is a touching fifty-year reunion of the survivors. To the very end, O'Nan handles the subject with dignity and grace. The subject matter is sorrowful and you will be moved close to tears, but I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Show Did Not Go On
Review: Compelling story about the devistating effects of fire on women and children. Shows the lack of preparedness, back then, of the entire emergency system from fire department to hospital. Shows how an excellent fire investigator can 'peel back the onion' and finds information through good synthesis and analysis of the facts. Brings to bear the life safety issues of large public events.
Rating:
Summary: Horror at the Big Top
Review: I chose this book as a native of CT who had read newspaper articles about the Hartford circus fire over the years. This disaster was of a magnitude that kept it from being completely forgotten by CT residents, even after forty or fifty years had passed. As a child just getting into the habit of reading newspapers, I noted mentions of the tragedy at anniversaries and after the "solving" of the identity of a little girl known only as Miss 1565. Later, as an adult living far away from CT, I became even more intrigued about this monumental occurrence after reading a review of Mr. O'Nan's book. I resolved to buy the book and find out more about the circumstances of that warm July day.
It turned out that the book, aside from quenching my desire to be more informed about the circus fire, was an excellently researched and wonderfully composed read. The accounts of eye witnesses were plentiful and detailed, the statistics were clear and concise, and the phrases were turned in a way that was enjoyable to read, even despite the gruesome subject matter. Background from before the actual happening, minute details during the conflagration, and narrative of the many aspects of the aftermath were blended together in a non-fiction depiction which avoided the dryness of a historical tome. This was one of those books that I could not put down, reading it from start to finish in one day. My advice to Mr. O'Nan is to find another subject that you can present with equal depth and panache and my advice to a prospective reader is to grab this book and dive right in.
Rating:
Summary: Big-Top Conflagration
Review: This account of the big-top conflagration in 1944 is morbidly haunting. What was supposed to be a wartime diversion for approximately 10,000 in Hartford, Connecticut ended up becoming an enduring nightmare. Many were injured, and 167 died during the minutes of the actual fire, and for weeks afterwards from injuries sustained. O'Nan pulls no punches in his account of this horrific event. He devotes more than 100 pages to recounting the minutes while the fire blazed, as well as many of the individual tales in and around the tent. His style is straightforward and blunt. The descriptions of the panic, and the horrific condition of the bodies that O'Nan puts forward will stay with me for a long time. I have long been fascinated by what I would define extreme psychology, or in other words, the character and depth of personality that is revealed in times of crisis or emergency. This book more than satisfied my curiosity. At times I found myself struggling to get through the pages, as stories of heartbreaking loss and tragedy unfolded one after another. The tone is not moralizing, and O'Nan is comprehensive in exploring the perspectives of all the actors through first-hand accounts. Of course there is the above-mentioned rush of panic, but the author also details the clean-up, the categorization and detailing of the sometimes unidentifiable remains of the victims, as well as the legal search for culpability. There are even a few mysteries that further draw the reader in. This book is fascinating, but very emotionally affecting. I recommend it, but with the reservation that the reader should be prepared for a difficult experience that may be too moving for the overly sensitive.
Rating:
Summary: Very well written!
Review: There is no getting around the fact that the subject matter of this book is horrifying. However, Mr. O'Nan does a superb job of relating the facts of the fire without relying on the ghoulishness of it all. (I appreciated that Mr. O'Nan saw to it that glimpses of mankind at its best were portrayed alongside glimpses of mankind at its worst.) I could not put this down. More frightening than anything Stephen King could ever imagine!
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