I'm not quite finished with it ... nevertheless I'd like to
pass on comments regarding Jim Tully's *Circus Parade* before
"20s month" ends. This book was first published in 1927 by
Albert & Charles Boni.
Although called a "novel" in an early paperback printing I
have, *Circus Parade* is actually a plotless collection of
sketches about people and incidents associated with a small
time traveling circus in the early 20th century. These
sketches are told in the first person and seem
autobiographical; Tully was a circus roustabout and a hobo
during his youth, and he may have seen these people and heard
these stories. Curiously though, the narrator of these
sketches is largely an observer rather than a participant in
events.
Tully's prose style is as terse and unsentimental as classic
hard-boiled literture. He's not prudish, and writes frankly
about sexual matters and unsavory character traits. It's
obvious that he has a deep sympathy for the circus performers
and laborers--all marginalized members of society--and
contempt for the "rubes" that patronize the circus. The
latter are always depicted as ignorant, mean-spirited cretins
that God put on Earth to be fleeced by the circus. (The
antagonism between the circus performers and the patrons
erupts in the sketch "Hey Rube!"--easily one of the most
amazing descriptions of sustained violence that I've ever
read.)
As far as I know everything by Tully is out of print now, but
his books do show up in used book stores and on eBay. Keep an
eye open for them. Dennis McMillan has a useful website about
Tully at http://www.dennismcmillan.com/copy_of_jimtully/
I don't think that they've reprinted any of his works
though.
---------- Jim Stephenson Rare Books Cataloger Getty Research
Institute 1200 Getty Center Drive Suite 1100 Los Angeles, CA
90049-1688 Telephone: (310) 440-7232 mailto:
jestephenson@ix.netcom.com
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