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In the 1920s, during the golden age of the big top, Mabel Stark was the superstar of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and one of America’s most eccentric and unlikely celebrities. A tiny, curvaceous Kentucky blonde in a white leather bodysuit, Mabel was brazen, sexually adventurous, and the greatest tiger trainer in history. She was fearlessly courageous. That was then. This is now.
It’s 1968. Mabel is turning eighty and is about to lose her job at Jungleland, a Southern California game park. Devastated by the loss of her cats, she looks back on her life, her five marriages, her regrets, and her triumphs. From her time as a mental institution–escapee; the notorious belly dancer, Little Egypt; and a crowd-roaring success with her one true love—a 550-pound Bengal tiger named Rajah—Mabel delivers an audacious confession of dark secrets, broken dreams, and escapades both comic and tragic.
In The Final Confession of Mabel Stark, Robert Hough resurrects the life of a formidably independent, proudly scarred, naughtily ribald, and totally unapologetic star in “one of the most rollicking, good-time books of the year” (USA Today).
“Mabel Stark developed an act so original, so daring, so brave, that it puts all the stupid human tricks on today’s reality shows to shame . . . a captivating portrait of a woman and a way of life that no longer exist.” —The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“Narrating with a saucy, bouncy verve, [Mabel Stark] recounts a life story that is one part John Irving, two parts blue movie.” —Time Out New York
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
December 1, 2007 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780802199218
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780802199218
- File size: 2936 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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January 20, 2003
This ribald, rough-hewn debut novel by a prize-winning Canadian writer is based on the flamboyant career of Mabel Stark, arguably the greatest (certainly the greatest female) tiger trainer of all time. Recounted as Stark is turning 80 in 1968, the faux memoir follows her path to superstardom through the 1910s and '20s as she learns to tame tigers and men, and finally tours with the famous Ringling Brothers Circus. Stark, born Mary Haynie, is a teenage Louisville, Ky., nurse, when she is committed to a mental hospital after rebelling against her brutish husband's insensitivity. Aided by a smitten psychiatrist, she escapes to Tennessee, where she becomes Little Egypt, a headliner belly dancer with the Great Parker Carnival. Another marriage and another gig as a "cooch dancer" follow, until she is rescued at the age of 23 by Al G. Barnes, a carny pal, lately owner of a small circus. When the show's animal trainer falls for her, he teaches her how to work with tigers and a new career is launched. Famous for the act in which she wrestles Rajah, a 500-pound Bengal tiger she's raised from a cub, she is also known for her brazenness, multiple marriages ("My men. Whew. Had a slew of them") and black leather jumpsuit. Rich in the atmosphere of circus life, this graphic, slangy fictional reminiscence also offers some surprising, deft metafictional touches. Agent, Ron Eckel, Westwood Creative Artists. (Apr.)Forecast:Hough's debut is a natural sell to fans of
Carter Beats the Devil and should attract an even wider readership if the film version—set to star Kate Winslet—comes off.
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