If you're anything like me then you always wondered what it'd be like to join the circus. Well, here's your chance to follow one of the great performers, Tiny Kline, from her early days to her later career as the model for Tinkerbell in Peter Pan. Written in a sensible and enthusiastic voice, the memoir makes clear that Kline's got more vocabulary than some might expect (perhaps thanks to her editor). Kline diagrams routines, tent floor plans, social interactions in pleasant prose. This book is sure to please any circus theme collector and will quench the curiosity of the stadium-seat-ogler. ( )

Tiny Kline certainly had a long and interesting career in a few areas of show business that are not well-known today, such as the circus and vaudeville. Her book is a memoir that the editor discovered and published with edits and notes.

Despite Janet Davis' editing, the book is very much like a self-published memoir in that it was written entirely by Kline and lightly edited by Davis for publication. I would compare this book very favorably to the fair number of such memoirs I have read over the years. Kline had some gift for story-telling and -- most important for a memoir -- for knowing what to leave out. As a result, the book is an easy and enjoyable read.

Ultimately, this book will appeal to those interested in show business in the first half of this century, and mainly to those with a scholarly interest in original sources. ( )

The narrative of this book is often difficult to follow. While interesting, I think this book would have benefited from a stronger editorial presence. ( )

CIRCUS QUEEN AND TINKER BELL: THE MEMOIR OF TINY KLINE is a fascinating, meticulously researched -- even extraordinary – book detailing a significant portion of the adult life of Tiny Kline, an early twentieth century American burlesque and circus performer. The book has a different origin than many memoirs: the editor, Janet Davis, was introduced to Kline’s rough manuscripts decades after her 1964 death. Captivated, Davis took on the documents as a scholarly project – and a work of love.

It shows.

Don’t let the word “scholarly” scare you away: Kline’s detailed account of her unconventional life is anything but dry. Vividly describing day-to-day life within the circus and entertainment subculture from roughly 1911-1943, Kline uniquely illuminates early twentieth-century American circus and entertainment life; social class, gender roles, ethnicity, racial dynamics, and risk, as well as immigration and assimilation.

The book can even be described as “archeological”, preserving a time and culture long gone. Davis’ extensive footnotes and original source documentation are remarkable and fascinating reading. How Tiny’s narrative, after languishing many years in the Circus World Museum archives, came to be published is a story unto itself.

While photographs are included, there are not many. There are even fewer of Kline. A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when picturing what is now essentially an alien world. While the era may have not been well-documented photographically, surely more photos are in existence. Inclusion of more pictures, and of larger sizes, would have been helpful. For example, I had a hard time picturing exactly what an “iron jaw” act was until encountering the photo on page 218 (unfortunately, not of Kline). No photographs of Kline’s famous “Slide for Life” are included, and the only contemporary portrait is of Kline attired in her Disney “Tinker Bell” costume. National Geographic even published a feature on Kline, in 1963, but no photos depict her aerial slides from Disneyland’s Matterhorn to Cinderella’s castle. Possibly photographic rights could not be obtained?

In summary, CIRCUS QUEEN AND TINKER BELL: THE MEMOIR OF TINY KLINE is a unique, fascinating window into an era’s unconventional subculture. A tip of the ringmaster’s top hat and a deep curtsy to editor Janet Davis! She has sensitively, respectfully, and meticulously preserved Kline’s legacy -- no mean feat. I greatly enjoyed this very engaging and readable book, and highly recommend it.

Circus affectionado or not, "Come one, come all!": I believe you’ll enjoy this remarkable memoir! ( )

Tiny Kline spent her entire life doing stunts. From youth to middle age, she worked with the circus, her love for which is apparent throughout the pages of her memoir. She continued doing iron jaw stunts, descending inclines at ridiculous speeds suspended only by her teeth, into old age and performed as Tinker Bell at Disneyland when she was in her 70s. By all accounts, Tiny Kline had a fascinating life. She really wrote two memoirs in an attempt to share that life with us. One contained mainly personal anecdotes, related to her work on the circus. The second mainly contained circus history and was stripped of these more intimate details. The editor, Janet M. Davis, combined the two to produce a memoir that is still Tiny’s but in a form readers will be more eager to consume.

This book was a very educational experience. Circus history, while an interesting topic, is not something that I’ve ever learned in school and there don’t seem to be many accessible books written on it. There is the fiction bestseller, Water for Elephants, which I read and loved earlier this year, but that’s about all I’ve seen on my book radar. When this popped up on LT Early Reviewers, I knew that I simply must read it. And good choice by me; this is a terrific memoir. The combination of memoirs is brilliantly done and I never noticed a gap between Tiny’s two styles of writing. It’s fascinating to see how the circus changed over time, the insider’s view of circus politics, and just how some performers climbed the career ladder faster than others. Tiny’s ambition was tremendous and it’s easy to see why she advances so quickly.

The book does read precisely as someone’s account of their life. Tiny was not the best writer and it’s evident at times that she had little training, but it never hampers this book, just makes the author more real, if that is possible. It reads like a letter written by a friend; conversational, easy tone. There were some nice touches put in by the editor, such as including photographs with Tiny’s descriptions of some of her fellow performers, all bringing the circus to life. Tiny admits one lapse in her introduction; she included some fictional romances to make the book more “exciting”, even though she never had a romantic interlude after her husband died shortly after their wedding. The fictional parts are obvious and only in one part of the book; I don’t count this against it, especially as she admits their existence before the book even begins.

I’d definitely be recommending this book and if you’re interested in circus history, you shouldn’t miss it. I’m glad that I didn’t!

http://chikune.com/blog/?p=237 ( )