Rating: 
Summary: 'An Anomaly of Anomalies'
Review: What wasn't quite clear to me when I got this book is that it is exactly what it says it is: a compellation of a quarterly 'newsletter' or journal written by magician Ricky Jay over a period of six years. The newsletter combines Jay's interest in entertainers of the outrageous kind with high quality publication; as he says,"a magazine printed letterpress on mold-made paper, with tipped-in color plates to present the illustrations I cherished with dignity and clarity." Although I have not seen either the original newsletters or the paperback version of the book, I can testify that the hardback retains these fine qualities.As one might expect given the nature of the project, the quality of individual chapters evolves with time. Each chapter of the book is one volume of the newletter, preserved with the original masthead; the first few chapters show Jay warming to his subject. Chapter one, on trained dogs, is only 6 pages long; Chapter two, on Edward Bright and other early "Fattest Man/Woman/Child" is eight pages. Honestly, these opening chapters did not particularly interest me. But then the topics became more interesting to me and Jay seemed to 'hit his stride'--the final chapter, on the Amazing Chess Automaton, is twice the length of the first. Nonetheless, I still found the book a bit uneven--the chapter on bowling begins superbly, with a short description of Matthew Buchinger, born in 1674 who became a bowling wizard in spite of having neither arms nor legs. But after a single paragraph and picture, this singular character is not mentioned again. Instead, Jay concentrates the remaining pages on a general discussion of cheating at bowling--substitute "pool" for 'bowling' and the situation is pretty much unchanged today; and the association of bowling with amorality in the Victorian mind. Moderately interesting, but give me a ceiling walker, chess automaton, or Bonassus any day. It would be churlish of me to make more of this--it is, after all, Jay's Journal of Anomalies, not Coleman's Journal. Among the more fascinating chapters are those on fasters, where Jay brings in the modern example of the Breatharians, who supposedly live on air alone; the Aztec Lilliputians; and a quirky chapter on "nose amputations". The common but unspoken thread among all the chapters is that odd but universal human quality--an eagerness to be deceived. The Amazing Chess Automaton, a device which has been treated at great lengths elsewhere, is a real testament to this quality; having been purchased by not one, but two members of royalty! Each chapter is thoroughly footnoted, so that the book stands not only as an entertaining collection of quirks, but also as a scholarly source of information. One of the highlights is the Afterward, in which Jay publishes, presumably for the first time, additional material and pictures supplied by his readers in response to the original newsletter. All in all, Jay has succeeded admirably in creating (in his own words) 'an anomaly of anomalies."
Rating: 
Summary: Book centering on the weird in life
Review: Wonderfully entertaining and enjoyable scholarship on extremely odd topics: flea circuses, hunger artists, nose-removal devices, and humbug of all sorts. Jay proves himself once again to be not only a supremely talented performer on the stage but on the page as well. Peruse this and be amazed at what people found entertaining a century or two ago... it's not so different from what you watch every evening on the TV (especially if you watch Fox).
Rating:
Summary: Odd Tastes? Read This Book.
Review: Wonderfully entertaining and enjoyable scholarship on extremely odd topics: flea circuses, hunger artists, nose-removal devices, and humbug of all sorts. Jay proves himself once again to be not only a supremely talented performer on the stage but on the page as well. Peruse this and be amazed at what people found entertaining a century or two ago... it's not so different from what you watch every evening on the TV (especially if you watch Fox).
Rating:
Summary: The Weirdest Shows on Earth
Review: _Jay's Journal of Anomalies_ (Farrar Strauss Giroux) is no cheat, even though it is a production of one of the cleverest sleight of hand tricksters who ever lived. Ricky Jay, author, magician, and actor, continues the theme of his _Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women_, a survey of strange entertainments through the ages. This book contains reproduction of his quarterly publication issued from 1994 to 2000, a periodical famous for its production values, rarity, and expense. The sixteen issues are gathered in one volume here, a good looking oversized book with charming period woodcuts and engravings, amazing tales of very strange human endeavors, and an afterword to bring all the issues up to date. Even at the listed... price this book is therefore an undeniable bargain, and it is good that it is going to have a reach to a larger audience. For Jay's subjects are so stupefyingly surprising. They almost all have to do with some sort of performance, and the stranger the better. There is a chapter on, of all things, crucifixion for showmanly profit. Tommy Minnock, at the beginning of the twentieth century, gained wildly enthusiastic response from his audiences as, nailed to a cross on the stage in a supposed hypnotic trance, he crooned, "After The Ball Is Over," one of the most popular tunes of the time. "I am told by those who saw me," he wrote "nailed to the cross that I presented a weird but impressive spectacle." Evatima Tardo around the same time was regularly nailed to a cross, suspended there for over two hours. She seldom had volunteers from the crowd who would come up to run the nails through her limbs, so her
assistants had to do so. The nails were dipped in poison beforehand; she
was quoted as saying, "There wouldn't be any fun unless I had prussic acid
on the ends." She laughed and sang, and declared that she had never had
such a pleasant time: "This is so easy, I am going to do it all over again
tomorrow night, and three nights next week." Jay writes that, "while no one
would claim that Minnock and Tardo inspired a trend of copycat
crucifixions," there were successors, including Faith Bacon, who hung nude
from a cross and gyrated to Ravel's Bolero. Some fakirs participated in
crucifixions in the spirit of competition, outdoing each other by staying
aloft for days at a time.
You will find here surprising chapters on such thing as the magical amputation of the nose. You will learn of the surprising, longstanding connection between legerdemain and dentistry. There are trained dogs and pigs, and a description of how flea circuses worked. There are those who made their fortunes by making faces; the means by which performers were able to dance upon the ceiling (including "The Great Philosophical Antipodean Pedestrian from Ohio"); the rascally ways in which hustlers would gain the trust and the pocketbooks of novices in ninepins; the adventures of professional fasters; and much more. The careful, quietly amused way in which Jay tells these odd histories is perfect for his subject matter, and shows a matchless enthusiasm for his themes. "I really do love this stuff," he tells us at the end, and there is easily sufficient evidence here to show that in that there is no deception.
Rating:
Summary: The Weirdest Shows on Earth
Review: _Jay's Journal of Anomalies_ (Farrar Strauss Giroux) is no cheat, even though it is a production of one of the cleverest sleight of hand tricksters who ever lived. Ricky Jay, author, magician, and actor, continues the theme of his _Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women_, a survey of strange entertainments through the ages. This book contains reproduction of his quarterly publication issued from 1994 to 2000, a periodical famous for its production values, rarity, and expense. The sixteen issues are gathered in one volume here, a good looking oversized book with charming period woodcuts and engravings, amazing tales of very strange human endeavors, and an afterword to bring all the issues up to date. Even at the listed... price this book is therefore an undeniable bargain, and it is good that it is going to have a reach to a larger audience. For Jay's subjects are so stupefyingly surprising. They almost all have to do with some sort of performance, and the stranger the better. There is a chapter on, of all things, crucifixion for showmanly profit. Tommy Minnock, at the beginning of the twentieth century, gained wildly enthusiastic response from his audiences as, nailed to a cross on the stage in a supposed hypnotic trance, he crooned, "After The Ball Is Over," one of the most popular tunes of the time. "I am told by those who saw me," he wrote "nailed to the cross that I presented a weird but impressive spectacle." Evatima Tardo around the same time was regularly nailed to a cross, suspended there for over two hours. She seldom had volunteers from the crowd who would come up to run the nails through her limbs, so her
assistants had to do so. The nails were dipped in poison beforehand; she
was quoted as saying, "There wouldn't be any fun unless I had prussic acid
on the ends." She laughed and sang, and declared that she had never had
such a pleasant time: "This is so easy, I am going to do it all over again
tomorrow night, and three nights next week." Jay writes that, "while no one
would claim that Minnock and Tardo inspired a trend of copycat
crucifixions," there were successors, including Faith Bacon, who hung nude
from a cross and gyrated to Ravel's Bolero. Some fakirs participated in
crucifixions in the spirit of competition, outdoing each other by staying
aloft for days at a time.
You will find here surprising chapters on such thing as the magical amputation of the nose. You will learn of the surprising, longstanding connection between legerdemain and dentistry. There are trained dogs and pigs, and a description of how flea circuses worked. There are those who made their fortunes by making faces; the means by which performers were able to dance upon the ceiling (including "The Great Philosophical Antipodean Pedestrian from Ohio"); the rascally ways in which hustlers would gain the trust and the pocketbooks of novices in ninepins; the adventures of professional fasters; and much more. The careful, quietly amused way in which Jay tells these odd histories is perfect for his subject matter, and shows a matchless enthusiasm for his themes. "I really do love this stuff," he tells us at the end, and there is easily sufficient evidence here to show that in that there is no deception.
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