|
What does the Tattooed Lady fear? "Some day I'll run out of skin." Erin Keane's new book, Death-Defying Acts, is a collection of monologues by a varied cast of circus performers--the Aerialist, Zorada (a fortune teller), the Clown, the Tattooed Lady, the Lion Tamer and even the Lion. They're living on the "existential edge" says Richard Cecil, and their stories are crazily, eerily familiar to all of us.
Book Excerpts
 I. Bodies in Motion [PDF]
Table of Contents
The Corsican Brothers Circus Presents: Death-Defying Acts
I. BODIES IN MOTION
Two Cannibals Are Eating a Clown&emdash;One Turns to the Other and Asks, "Does This Taste Funny to You?"
Lectio Divina of the Tattooed Lady
The Lion Tamer's Acts
The Aerialist Grounds Herself
A Tamed Lion's Dilemma
Pretty Young Girl and a Handsome Lad: A Strip of Four Black & White Snapshots from the Midway Photomat Booth
The Tattooed Lady's First
How Do You Get a Clown to Stop Smiling? Hit Him in the Face with an Axe!
The Tattooed Lady Falls
II. HELIUM & BALLOON
Joe Buck Yourself!
The Lion Tamer's Visit
Pose of the Tattooed Lady
Zorada Consults Her Magic Ball
The Aerialist's Signature Stunt
The Tattooed Lady's Visit
The Lion Tamer's Résumé
Clown in Full Makeup and a Woman Tattooed: A Strip of Four Black & White Snapshots from the Midway Photomat Booth
The Lion Tamer's Letter
I Ask Her to Tattoo a Single Tear on My Cheek
INTERLUDE: THE LACK, THE FILL
Claude Waits for Miranda
The Lion Tamer's Interstate
The Aerialist Dreams of Walking
If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Father
The Tattooed Lady Transforms
III. BOTTOMLESS PITS
The Aerialist Puts on Her Shoes
A Clown in Trousers
The Aerialist Answers
A Woman Battled: A Strip of Four Black & White Snapshots from the Midway Photomat Booth
The Aerialist Remembers
Zorada Reads the Aerialist
The Lion Tamer Writes Another Letter
The Tattooed Lady Watches
A Clown without Pity
Zorada Reads the Clown
The Tattooed Lady's Fear
IV: LIVE GRENADES
Clown in Full Makeup and a Pretty Young Girl: A Strip of Four Black & White Snapshots from the Midway Photomat Booth
The Tattooed Lady's Prayer
Joke in a Box
The Lion Tamer Demonstrates
The Aerialist Tries Her Hand
Ascension of the Tattoed Lady
A Fool in Four Letters
The Aerialist Pays a Visit
The Lion Tamer Wakes Up
The Tattooed Lady Takes Off
Where Will They Find Another Man of My Caliber?
Acknowledgements
Notes
|
