Never Quote the Weather to a Sea Lion (and other uncommon tales from the founder of the Big Apple Circus) is a celebration of Paul Binder’s life in and around the circus. Drawing on thirty-five years with the show he created, the Big Apple Circus’ founder and founding Artistic Director invites us inside the fence every kid peers through for an intimate look at the uncommon life of circus artists, their animal partners, and the roustabouts who spend their days in a world that is both close-knit and international, high-minded and low comedy, death-defying and ludicrous. Never Quote the Weather to a Sea Lion (and other uncommon tales from the founder of the Big Apple Circus) balances the weird and the workaday, the curious and the commonplace, the exhilaration and the exhaustion of life in the circus, with simple portrayals of ordinary people going about the business of achieving the extraordinary.
A delightful book and a fun read by the man who founded the Big Apple Circus I just finished reading Never Quote the Weather to a Sea Lion. What a fun read. It makes one want to run away and join the circus. Skipping over all of the hard work and difficult struggles that he must have had to overcome, Paul Binder has chosen the most delightful stories of his great adventure, first in developing his skills as a performer, and then using those skills and the necessary skills and disciplines (honed at Dartmouth) to found and perpetuate the Big Apple Circus. It is an…
Experiencing exhuberant energy! I enjoyed this well-written, spirited romp of a book immensely. The stories of unanticipated challenges encountered mounting a circus are amusing, surprising, and charming. Their overall effect on me was impressive. More than simply bringing a smile to my face, they brought me in touch with the exuberant energy at the heart of the circus experience. The buoyant feeling of watching a circus came to life while reading this book in a most welcome way. Bravo!