Memoirs Of A Sword Swallower

Memoirs Of A Sword Swallower

Memoirs of a Sword Swallower is Daniel P. Mannix's autobiography as a sword-swallower with a traveling sideshow, illustrated with photos from the 30s and 40s taken by the author. An example of Classic Americana, this book offers a portrayal of a vanished world of working-class performance artists who earned a living by their unique bodies and imaginations. Stars include the Fat Lady, the human beanpole, the Ostrich man who ate broken glass, and many more. The "tricks" behind eating fire and swallowing swords are explicated with clarity and candor. This book will appeal to all who speculate about the outer limits of pain, pleasure, and revulsion. Mannix went on to become the supreme noir historian of the 20th century, penningThose About to Die (about the Roman games in the Colosseum), a biography of Aleister Crowley calledThe Beast, The Hellfire Club (about an upper-class British secret society), and many more. Mannix was sent a membership card from Anton LaVey's Church of Satan, although like Marcel Duchamp and Groucho Marx he was not a joiner, preferring to remain staunchly independent.ReviewA grotesque gallery of portraits of amazing human beings and a fascinating behind-the-scenes revelation of carnival life. --New York TimesAbout the AuthorDaniel P. Mannix died in 1997, but not before he had written more than 20 books detailing little-known history, mostly of the dark side. He is an unacknowledged American master historian.Excerpt.