Topsy: The Startling Story Of The Crooked Tailed Elephant, P.T. Barnum, And The American Wizard, Thomas Edison (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
When I finished this book, I spent a good ten minutes debating in my mind whether I liked the book or not. I am an elephant lover, a circus enthusiast, and a new fan of mini-histories. I though Topsy would be a great book to fulfill all three loves. I was kind of right. There is lots of info on the circus and lots of elephants but I didn't appreciate the add-in of the American Wizard. Electrocuting animals and people is not something I want to read about and unfortunately, about 1/3 of the book was about just that. Parts of the book disgusted me and the ending made me sad. I was very surprised by this book, by the parts I ended up liking a lot, and the parts I didn't like. I enjoyed learning more than I had ever known about elephants. (Despite having traveled extensively in India, I knew very little about the habits of elephants.) I liked reading about the slow evolution of circus entertainment in America. I did not like the other historical references, (I felt they bogged the rest of the story down) and I did not like hearing about Edison, Westinghouse, Tesla, etc. (I felt their stories weren't very well presented.) Also, for a story that proclaimed to be about the electrocution of Topsy the elephant there was very little about it at all, except at the very, very end of the book. Still I learned so much more along the way that I would recommend this book anyway.
What do You think about Topsy: The Startling Story Of The Crooked Tailed Elephant, P.T. Barnum, And The American Wizard, Thomas Edison (2013)?
Electricity and elephants. Fascinating topics, but a really jumpy story line.
—mart
The story is fascinating. I was very disturbed by it.
—lily
Why read fiction when there really was ...TOPSY
—Asdfghjkl
"They'll say, 'Aww Topsy' at my autopsy."
—kjewell
