Women of Illusion: A Circus Family's History

Rating:
Summary: The Women of Illusion
Review: What a book this could have been! The author gets close enough to the Huber family to wring riveting accounts of 1930-1950's circus life; recalling stories from matriarch Betty Huber and the journals of her mother, German immigrant strongwoman Babette Schutz. Extensive interviews are obtained from Huber's children, particularly visual artist Fritzi Huber. When the narrative sticks to stories of the Hubers' lives this book is impossible to put down, both as a showman's story and the account of a family new to this country at the turn of the 20th century.
Unfortunately, Frega cannot resist inserting herself into the framework of the story; acting as a sort of bizarre Greek chorus casting judgment over choices the (nonfiction!) characters have made in their lives. Repeatedly she will follow one of Betty's or Fritzi's colorful stories with a diatribe about the burdens/joys of motherhood that only she (Frega) seems to appreciate. Things get weirder when Frega refers to Betty as "Mom" and Fritzi as her sister, yet continues to patronize them in her asides and compare the choices they made with the choices she has made as a suburban ex-academic housewife. It is as though Frega's notes for the book and her bedside diary have collided and the diary just isn't very gripping. Frega chastises the mother and daughter for "romanticizing" their lives as circus performers even while exploiting their tales to obtain a publisher.
I read this book with a mounting agitation; fascinated by a glimpse into this family's life but deeply disturbed by the author's intrusiveness and moral self-righteousness. This is the first such "hybrid biography/autobiography" that I have seen and I find the lack of personal photographs or endorsements from the Hubers very telling. Ultimately one is left with the sense that the Hubers would be better served had they been given the opportunity to respond to Frega's manuscript/judgments with their own
comments. As it stands, this book is a very engaging but exploitive and frustrating read.

Rating:
Summary: conventional authors need not apply
Review: Instead of running away and joining the circus, I read books about it. And while I have found the personality of the author tends to insert itself strongly in circus-related biographies, never have I found such an overwhelmingly judgemental one as Frega's. The audacity of her assumptions is mind-boggling, and they continually revolve around Frega's issues of sacrifice for her children. Since the book begins with mention of her losing out on tenure because of choosing "parenting over publishing", it's clear that her priorities are vastly different than the women who are the supposed focus of the book.

It's a huge disappointment, as the "women of illusion"--Babette the strong woman, Betty the acrobat and her artist-daughter Fritzi are fascinating subjects with all the depth, contradictions, and unpredictable emotions and behavior that can make biographies such a treat. Diehard circus fans might keep reading it for these stories, but expect repeat, and annoying, interruptions.

While the subjects do seem difficult to interview,the book leaves me wondering where the problems originated: how can a person open up completely to one who is so openly judgemental? This question aside, ultimately it's the handling of the final material I take issue with, as it becomes downright whiny in places. Basically, the author seems far too suburban-mommy to do her topic justice.