My Life Under The Big Top

In his book, My Life Under the Big Top, the Rev. David Fly shares his lifes journey as a standup comedian, a professional television clown, and an Episcopal priest. The three roles became increasingly intertwined throughout his life. The big top of the circus came to represent for him the church with its sense of wonder and mysterya world from which no one is excluded. The role of the clown and the Christian is to play Stan Laurel to the worlds Oliver Hardy, exposing the folly of pretense and the vanity of pride. The book is both a memoir and a theological reflection.

Under the Big Top examines the immensely popular big tent revivals of turn-of-the-twentieth-century America and develops a new framework for understanding Protestantism in this transformative period of the nation's history. Contemporary critics of the revivalists often depicted them as anxious and outdated religious opponents of a modern, urban nation. Early historical accounts likewise portrayed tent revivalists as Victorian hold-outs, bent on re-establishing nineteenth-century values and religion in a new America. In this revisionist work, Josh McMullen argues that, contrary to these stereotypes, big tent revivalists actually participated in the shift away from Victorianism and helped in the construction of a new consumer culture in the United States. How did the United States became the most consumer-driven and yet one of the most religious societies in the western world? McMullen shows that revivalists and their audiences reconciled the Protestant ethic of salvation with the emerging consumer ethos by cautiously unlinking Christianity from Victorianism and joining it to the new, emerging consumer culture. Under the Big Top helps to explain the continued appeal of both the therapeutic and the salvific worldview to many Americans as well as the ambivalence that accompanies this combination.

“A valuable and illuminating read, shedding a lot of light on the political, economic and technological factors that have driven circus evolution” (The Circus Diaries). Beneath the Big Top is a social history of the circus, from its ancient roots to the rise of the “modern” tented travelling shows. A performer and founder of a circus group, Steve Ward draws on eyewitness accounts and contemporary interviews to explore the triumphs and disasters of the circus world. He reveals the stories beneath the big top during the golden age of the circus and the lives of circus folk, which were equally colorful outside the ring: • Pablo Fanque, Britain’s first black circus proprietor • The Chipperfield dynasty, who started out in 1684 on the frozen Thames • Katie Sandwina, world’s strongest woman and part-time crime-fighter • The Sylvain brothers, who fell in love with the same woman in the ring “As a former circus performer and now teacher and circus professional I thoroughly enjoyed this book!! The Circus has such a rich history and Steve does an amazing job at not only chronicling it but also telling entertaining and wonderful stories throughout. The photos are also amazing!! I recommend this book for both circus professionals and also for everyone else . . . it is a fabulous read for all!!” —Carrie Heller, Circus Arts Institute (Atlanta, GA)

The game was always played the same. She ran, and he chased to bring her back home. And somehow Cole managed to fall in love with his wealthy charge. He could never resist the touch of her skin or how her taste imprinted on his memory. Together the flames of passion burned like white heat consuming them both. All he knew is no matter how much he loved her, he couldn’t have her. They were from two different worlds, and no bridge could close the gap. Juliette wanted to finish the match of wits she started years ago with Cole. It was fun at first, but now her heart was on the line. Cole was all she wanted in a man and a lover. She could not close her eyes without seeing his brooding eyes beckoning her. For this game, love was the prize, and if she lost, Juliette knew she would never be the same. Like a chess match each move led them closer to each other or farther apart. But will the final victory bring them happiness or heartbreak?

Includes author's note, discussion questions, and glossary.

Dalton Young—ringmaster of the financially strapped Second Galaxy Circus—has a lot on his spinning plates. Broken equipment, injured performers, and investors breathing down his neck threaten to crater everything he’s built. Still, he continues to do it all on his own. Partnerships, after all, always end with someone broke or broken. And he should know—ten years ago, the love of his life never boarded the bus heading toward their mutual dream of performing in the circus. Penelope Baker—a tame, methodical accountant for a prestigious investment firm—made the mistake of admitting she almost ran off with the circus in her youth, and now her boss has assigned her the bothersome task of auditing their riskiest investment: The Second Galaxy Circus. Taking the job will only remind her of the chaotic road she almost traveled. She decides to do the work as quickly and efficiently as possible so she can get back to her stable and routine life. Things unravel the moment Dalton and Penelope come face to face with each other and their connected past. She was the girl who never showed, and he was the boy left waiting. Yet, just like the name of his circus, maybe they have a second chance at love under a big top. Book two in The Unwedding Vow: Having just attended a wedding with the queen of all bridezillas, the ten unmarried members of wedding reception table nine have taken an oath. They will never, ever get married. Can this collection of oddball personalities keep their promise to be single? Or will love pick off each member of The Unwedding Vow?

Once an eagerly awaited spectacle, the traveling circus—that miracle of red wagons, trumpeting elephants and spangled trapeze artists that slipped into town at dawn and disappeared by midnight—has all but vanished from the American landscape. This work explores circus history from 1793 to the present and addresses the forces of modern culture (such as the popularity of Cirque du Soleil, and pressure from the animal rights movement) that are pushing big top shows toward what the author calls “circus ballet.” Numerous photographs and in-depth interviews conducted with show owners, performers and directors enrich the narrative. Overall, the book reveals a sobering contrast between circuses of yesterday and today, even as it honors the outstanding performers who created, and have sustained, the enduring appeal of the circus.