 "Man
on the Tightrope"
by Neil Paterson
Avon, 1952
The back cover reads:
"The most daring show ever presented. That's what the sign on the circus
wagon said. And daring it was--in more ways than one. For in addition to
the undraped feminine beauty that was promised the wagon contained a group
of desperate people in whom hope and fear, courage and cowardice, love
and lust were waging a bitter, remorseless battle. The show was about to
start..."
Carnivals are without
a doubt one of the best setting for pulp novels. By its shear nature it's
a world outside the realm of normal culture. It's a closed universe where
the goings on inside rarely effect the world on the outside and we, as
outsiders, get a vicarious thrill by looking into the fringe society. (Prison
books, theatre troup, and Men-at-sea/tropical island books also fit into
this pattern.) This genre is ripe for torrid stories that just happen to
involve freaks--the physical and the mental kind. This book has all the
required sideshow ambiance, but it also tosses in some cold war paranoia.
It's the story of a circus ringmaster and his company within the Iron Curtain
and their big plan to escape to the West, aka Freedom.
See also:
"Backstage Trio" by Allyn
Davis
"Tent-Show Bride" by
Jack Hanley
"Prison Girl" by Wenzell
Brown
"Freaks: We Who Are Not
As Others" by Daniel P. Mannix
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