Synopses & Reviews
A cult classic and a work of remarkable scholarship restored to print.
Ricky Jay is one of the world's great sleight-of-hand artists. He is also a most unusual and talented scholar, specializing in the bizarre, exotic, and fantastic side of the human species. The youngest magician to have appeared on television, Jay has become well known for his astonishing stage show as well as for his cameos in such movies as Glengarry Glen Ross, and Boogie Nights.
Jay's unparalleled collection of books, posters, photographs, programs, broadsides, and, most important, data about unjustifiably forgotten entertainers all over the world made this unique book possible. An investigation into the inspired world of sideshows, circuses, and singularly talented performers, Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women is history of the most unusual and irresistible sort.
Review
"The most satisfying array of oddities, marvels, and novelties that has been gathered together in a blue moon...well-written and exhaustively researched...it belongs within reach of anyone who wishes to rejoice over the strange quirks and glorious victories of our species. The folks who fill these pages are real, and they should invoke in us a deep sense of wonder." James Randi, The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Ricky Jay is the author of Cards as Weapons and has appeared both on television and in movies. He has worked with Joseph Papp, Francis Ford Coppola, and David Mamet.