The captivating tale of one man's incredible journey into the singular and marvelous world of the circus--taking you into a realm of carnival history and its evolution as a modern art form, plus into the inner sanctum of France's most esteemed circus academy. Sometimes thrilling, often amusing, The Ordinary Acrobat chronicles the (metaphoric and literal) clash of a single American initiate and a cluster of talented foreign pupils in a demanding regimen of acrobatics, trapezing, juggling, and clowning. Along the way, Wall introduces readers to the ambition, beauty, and excitement of the circus's history--from lowly starts to Gilded Age treasures, and from twentieth-century economic and artistic struggles to its spectacular resurgence in the shape of modern circus (notably through Cirque du Soleil). Get to know figures past--the progenitor of the circus, Philip Astley; the larger-than-life P.T. Barnum--and present, as Wall
