âRobert Wilsonâs Barnum, the first full-dress biography in twenty years, eschews clichĂŠs for a more nuanced storyâŚIt is a life for our times, and the biography Barnum deserves.â âThe Wall Street Journal
P.T. Barnum is the greatest showman the world has ever seen. As a creator of the Barnum & Baily Circus and a champion of wonder, joy, trickery, and âhumbug,â he was the founding father of American entertainmentâand as Robert Wilson argues, one of the most important figures in American history.
Nearly 125 years after his death, the name P.T. Barnum still inspires wonder. Robert Wilsonâs vivid new biography captures the full genius, infamy, and allure of the ebullient showman, who, from birth to death, repeatedly reinvented himself. He learned as a young man how to wow crowds, and built a fortune that placed him among the first millionaires in the United States. He also suffered tragedy, bankruptcy, and fires that destroyed his lifeâs work, yet willed himself to recover and succeed again. As an entertainer, Barnum courted controversy throughout his lifeâyet he was also a man of strong convictions, guided in his work not by a desire to deceive, but an eagerness to thrill and bring joy to his audiences. He almost certainly never uttered the infamous line, âThereâs a sucker born every minute,â instead taking pride in giving crowds their moneyâs worth and more.
Robert Wilson, editor of The American Scholar, tells a gripping story in Barnum, one thatâs imbued with the same buoyant spirit as the man himself. In this âengaging, insightful, and richly researched new biographyâ (New York Journal of Books), Wilson adeptly makes the case for P.T. Barnumâs place among the icons of American history, as a figure who represented, and indeed created, a distinctly American sense of optimism, industriousness, humor, and relentless energy.