A "josser" is an outsider, someone who comes to, rather than from, the circus. Nell Stroud came into the circus from university, and from selling tickets during the morning and ice- creams during the performance she worked her way up to the role of ringmistress astride her beloved horse Prince in the family-run Santus Circus, touring Britain during the 1996 and 1997 seasons. This is her account of the people she encountered and the life she led, as she pulls back the Big Top's flaps and ushers us in.

Her words are, in its truest sense, a chronicle. Early on she relates how circus folk accept her fairly quickly due to her private, non-gossipy nature, and this is a quality that shines through her text. The problem is, writers are usually fantastic gossips, and a body of writing stripped of curiosity seems bare, or at best functional. Her staccato style of adjectival abstinence is that of a diarist intent on preserving fact at the expense of reflection, leaving one longing for a sentence of Proustian extravagance. This is a pity, because her subtext, of how her family life was shattered by an awful accident to her mother which seemed to impel young Nell in to the ring, is certainly there, and would add dimension to what is essentially a series of anecdotes stretched to a narrative. What is clear is that Nell Stroud has circus in her soul. Whether she has poetry is another matter. --David Vincent

Read the book..see the circus., 15 Jan 2006
I decided to buy this book after seeing Nell's own show - Gifford's circus, at the Hay on Wye festival last summer. I can honestly say that hers is the best circus I have ever been to, it was the complete epitome of everything I believe a circus should be. Reading this book led me to see where the inspiration for her circus came from.
The book itself, I will be honest, is not a great read. Stroud is not a natural writer, her style does not flow. However, if you can plough through it, its a great story. An incredible story, I might say. It is made all the more real by the fact that I have actually seen Nell's circus.
I have been to quite a few circus shows but never really given much thought to the people in them. This book uncovers the reality behind the romance, through the eyes of an outsider. It shows the true hardships and poverty of life on the road. It also shows what the politically correct British are doing to their way of life - killing it.
Stroud laments an England gone by and I think the best quote of the book has to be.. 'I doubt Santus circus will ever have an e-mail address..it is just a circus.'
Although on the surface, this book is very much about the circus, on another level it is also about Stroud's own life. Stroud admits herself that a reason for joining the circus was due to her mothers accident. She writes about human nature as well as the circus. This is a very interesting book, although I doubt it would be of much interest to you unless you have seen Gifford's circus or are a circus fanatic.

Touching and well-written, 12 Nov 2004
Nell Stroud fell in love with traditional circuses and learned her circus skills the hard way. This book is vivid on the hardships of circus life, the difficulties of establishing yourself as a circus person rather than a 'josser' (an outsider passing through), and the joys of circus as an art form.

A Great Read, 24 Oct 2002
There hasn't been a book like "Josser" since Paul Galligo's "Love, Let Me Not Hunger" in the 1960's.
Like Galligo Nell Stroud neither plays up to the imagined fairy tale of the circus nor looks down on it, but instead looks at the ailing traditional industry in UK through an outsider's eyes. What you get is an evocative and honest story of a young woman's quest for her childhood dream.

"Josser" brings the circus tale up to date and makes great comparisons between the different types of shows and the people who live on them. There is also a great passage explaining how circuses relate to the country of their origin.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Josser" and look forward to Ms. Stroud's next publication, "Phillip Astley."

THE SAWDUST WORLD BEHIND THE BIG TOP, 20 Apr 2000
Nell Stroud shows us her highly individual view of the world of the Circus -- a world peopled by stubborn, physically hard people who aren't intending to let go of their way of life in spite of the efforts of politicians and campaigners. She finds that the 'romance' is just blood, sweat, and tears; and then changes managements to find a show that seems genuinely romantic and quaint by comparison with the larger circus she's just abandoned. Not always totally accurate, but conveying the raw 'feel' of life under and around the Big Top.

A truly great book., 08 Jul 1999
Read this and weep,and then laugh and smile and be awed by someone who chose to travel her own road.

Read the book..see the circus., 15 Jan 2006
I decided to buy this book after seeing Nell's own show - Gifford's circus, at the Hay on Wye festival last summer. I can honestly say that hers is the best circus I have ever been to, it was the complete epitome of everything I believe a circus should be. Reading this book led me to see where the inspiration for her circus came from.
The book itself, I will be honest, is not a great read. Stroud is not a natural writer, her style does not flow. However, if you can plough through it, its a great story. An incredible story, I might say. It is made all the more real by the fact that I have actually seen Nell's circus.
I have been to quite a few circus shows but never really given much thought to the people in them. This book uncovers the reality behind the romance, through the eyes of an outsider. It shows the true hardships and poverty of life on the road. It also shows what the politically correct British are doing to their way of life - killing it.
Stroud laments an England gone by and I think the best quote of the book has to be.. 'I doubt Santus circus will ever have an e-mail address..it is just a circus.'
Although on the surface, this book is very much about the circus, on another level it is also about Stroud's own life. Stroud admits herself that a reason for joining the circus was due to her mothers accident. She writes about human nature as well as the circus. This is a very interesting book, although I doubt it would be of much interest to you unless you have seen Gifford's circus or are a circus fanatic.

Touching and well-written, 12 Nov 2004
Nell Stroud fell in love with traditional circuses and learned her circus skills the hard way. This book is vivid on the hardships of circus life, the difficulties of establishing yourself as a circus person rather than a 'josser' (an outsider passing through), and the joys of circus as an art form.

A Great Read, 24 Oct 2002
There hasn't been a book like "Josser" since Paul Galligo's "Love, Let Me Not Hunger" in the 1960's.
Like Galligo Nell Stroud neither plays up to the imagined fairy tale of the circus nor looks down on it, but instead looks at the ailing traditional industry in UK through an outsider's eyes. What you get is an evocative and honest story of a young woman's quest for her childhood dream.

"Josser" brings the circus tale up to date and makes great comparisons between the different types of shows and the people who live on them. There is also a great passage explaining how circuses relate to the country of their origin.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Josser" and look forward to Ms. Stroud's next publication, "Phillip Astley."

THE SAWDUST WORLD BEHIND THE BIG TOP, 20 Apr 2000
Nell Stroud shows us her highly individual view of the world of the Circus -- a world peopled by stubborn, physically hard people who aren't intending to let go of their way of life in spite of the efforts of politicians and campaigners. She finds that the 'romance' is just blood, sweat, and tears; and then changes managements to find a show that seems genuinely romantic and quaint by comparison with the larger circus she's just abandoned. Not always totally accurate, but conveying the raw 'feel' of life under and around the Big Top.

A truly great book., 08 Jul 1999
Read this and weep,and then laugh and smile and be awed by someone who chose to travel her own road.

It Is All Quite A Show, 14 Oct 2006
There are plenty of stories about the boy who ran away to join the circus, but few such actual boys. Gerry Cottle is one. He had had a British middle class upbringing, and was sent to a fine grammar school, where "I had done as little work as possible, bluffed my way through every test and bunked a day's school wherever I could in order to work on my circus skills." And so in 1961 at age fifteen he ran away, leaving a message to his parents, "Please do not under any circumstances try to find me. I have gone forever. I have joined the circus. You do not understand me... I have gone." He had at age eight formed his ultimate ambition, to own the biggest circus Britain had ever seen, and he was to make good on that goal, and many others besides. He tells a colorful life story (with documentary maker Helen Batten) in _Confessions of a Showman: My Life in the Circus_ (Vision), a lively warts-and-all autobiography that tells his unique story from elephant muck to big top success, with world travel and cocaine addiction thrown in.

Cottle had taught himself juggling with fruits from his mother's kitchen, and his dad even encouraged performance in front of his Masonic lodge when Cottle was thirteen. He has a memory of his upbringing as simply being a period when he was forced to wear gray, and when the circus came to town, he got to see colors, sequins, and pretty girls. Having left home, he took up in the Roberts Brothers Circus, where among other things he played the rear end of a pantomime horse. He had other menial tasks, cleaning up after the elephants being the worst one; the circus was grubby hard work, and he loved it. He loved the companionship and pestered all the circus staff to tell him stories about their lives. There was an enormous problem for him, though; he was a "flattie" or a "josser", circus slang for an outsider. The big circuses were family affairs, and as a josser, Cottle was not going to get to be a performer. He worked on his juggling, and aspired to be a clown, but the family frankly told him, "You'll never be a clown, you're only a tent man." He went on to a smaller circus that was less picky, and got to perform, but realized that as much as he enjoyed showing off, especially to the girls, he was not the most talented of ring acts. He could only be big in the circus by owning and directing one, and he did get training in important administrative details like how to put up posters (put them in the main streets and concentrate on the better class of shops, and also enjoy the kick of putting your own poster over that of your competitor). But he was still a josser, and he needed the contacts and cooperation of an established circus family: "I was only going to get this by becoming one of them."

The way to do that was to marry in, and that is just what he did. He first saw Betty Fossett as he was working in her family's circus. She did a lasso act and she showed off her performing dogs. She was, however, only twelve. He pursued her avidly, and was in love with her despite the admitted attraction of becoming part of the family. They moved together into a caravan by the time she was sixteen, and they eventually married. It was a tempestuous relationship, complicated by a difficult life on the road and his womanizing and drug use. Before it wound up, the marriage did produce three daughters, who became, respectively, a juggler, a trapeze artist, and a trick rider. Cottle expresses enormous fondness for his daughters, and also for the son who has gone into non-circus public relations.

He has no fondness for animal rights protesters: "Generally they were a filthy lot. Lots of unemployed people and students with nothing better to do than to stir up a fuss." They were no problem when he was starting his career, but in the seventies the tide turned and towns which had welcomed the circus would no longer allow it to set up. At a time when a circus was not thought to be a circus without lions and elephants, the performers felt their whole traditional way of life was being questioned. Cottle was exasperated that giving the animals the demanded exercise cages did not satisfy any protesters (and the lions, being particularly lazy, just lay around as they always did and never got any exercise). He delights in telling about the absurdities of the protests. A week before they were to set up in Dorset, he got a letter from the Weymouth town council to say that unless the picture of King Kong on the posters were removed, the circus could not be set up. Not only was there no real King Kong, there was no real gorilla, only a clown in a gorilla costume. Towns famous for their horseracing protested that circus horses were abused. In one routine, clowns lifted the lid of a dish to reveal a live duck in an otherwise animal-free show, but the local council of Haringey refused to have any live animal performing. Cottle and his assistants went out and counted all they places (especially Chinese restaurants) in Haringey that served duck, and rode a publicity wave of headlines like "You can eat a duck in Haringey but you can't watch it perform!" There were some such publicity successes but eventually keeping animals in the acts was more trouble than it was worth. Cottle thinks that this reflects a prejudice against circuses that is a particular form of English snobbery. "In the rest of Europe circus is seen as a precious art form, which is ironic when circus started in Britain. Here we are seen as barely better than gypsies, and we all know how they are treated."

Cottle moved on to the Circus of Horrors, which was a big success with young people, and to fun fairs, and his current project of the caves and the amusement park at Wookey Hole. He has been clean of cocaine for several years; his book has many harrowing stories about the effects of his habit on his business and on his family life. Cottle, now that he is an elder statesman for the circus, is no longer running a circus, but he has, after many falls, landed on his feet. There are plenty of passages of sadness, financial reverses, and self recrimination in his book, but overall it is a rollicking memoir of a unique life. Readers will learn the vital nature of candy floss (that's cotton candy to us Americans) to make or break a circus's budget. There are details of how to transport a circus overseas, with all the animals, as Cottle responded in 1975 to the decree of the Sultan of Oman: "He wants a British circus in Oman in December." (What simpler times those were.) On another trip he and his circus found themselves in the middle of the Iranian revolution. Like any showman, he gives descriptions that leave the reader wishing to be able to see the thing described, like the "hot-air balloon father and daughter act which consisted of the balloon whirling around at an impossible speed and them falling out and their clothes falling off." He reveals the trick of how to stick one's head into a crocodile's mouth, but there is no trick that will let one escape from the greatest danger, the vile breath of the crocodile. He tells how he staged the worlds largest (_Guinness_-approved) custard pie fight, complete with two concrete mixers to make the custard. His book is a recounting of a romp of a life, full of odd events and funny stories. It's a great show.

Excellent - thoroughly entertaining!, 06 Sep 2006
I didn't think I'd like this - I'm not particularly a fan of the circus, but after seeing Gerry Cottle on Richard and Judy I was intrigued and decided to give his biography a read. In a way Gerry Cottle could be described as the Robbie Williams of his day (or rather, Robbie Williams is the Gerry Cottle of today!). Gerry has led a very interesting life - he was the world's first confirmed sex-addict (long before Michael Douglas!), was a cocaine addict and is the most successful circus boss ever. Apart from that, the circus world is certainly a weird and wacky one - Gerry describes how he regularly stuck his head in a crocodile's mouth and describes what clowns really get up to back stage!

I really did enjoy this book - everyone should give it a try, especially fans of the circus and entertainment in general.




I could almost smell the candyfloss', 04 Sep 2006
I bought this book after seeing Gerry on an afternoon chat show. He really
had me laughing, and I wanted to know more. Circuses are great and it's a
shame they aren't what they used to be any more and reading this book was a
trip down memory lane, I could almost smell the candyfloss! If youve ever
been to the circus, you will love this book.

Stunning, 04 Sep 2006
I really do not like circuses - always having felt they are degrading for the animals and humans involved so can hardly believe that I went out in search of Gerry Cottle's book after seeing him on Richard & Judy. I'm glad I did too as I see circuses in a totally new light now and as a piece of British heritage that has almost been forgotten. Gerry Cottle has had an interesting life and he tells of the spills and thrills with gusto - I guess that a lot has been left out. Buy this book even if, like me, you think that you don't like circuses - Gerry will make you change your mind and you'll be thoroughly entertained to boot.

Cottle on speed, 02 Sep 2006
A fast paced insight into the world of the circus through the eyes of a circus owner between 1970 and the present day. Full of crazy anecdotes about life on the circus. Unputdownable!

Read the book..see the circus., 15 Jan 2006
I decided to buy this book after seeing Nell's own show - Gifford's circus, at the Hay on Wye festival last summer. I can honestly say that hers is the best circus I have ever been to, it was the complete epitome of everything I believe a circus should be. Reading this book led me to see where the inspiration for her circus came from.
The book itself, I will be honest, is not a great read. Stroud is not a natural writer, her style does not flow. However, if you can plough through it, its a great story. An incredible story, I might say. It is made all the more real by the fact that I have actually seen Nell's circus.
I have been to quite a few circus shows but never really given much thought to the people in them. This book uncovers the reality behind the romance, through the eyes of an outsider. It shows the true hardships and poverty of life on the road. It also shows what the politically correct British are doing to their way of life - killing it.
Stroud laments an England gone by and I think the best quote of the book has to be.. 'I doubt Santus circus will ever have an e-mail address..it is just a circus.'
Although on the surface, this book is very much about the circus, on another level it is also about Stroud's own life. Stroud admits herself that a reason for joining the circus was due to her mothers accident. She writes about human nature as well as the circus. This is a very interesting book, although I doubt it would be of much interest to you unless you have seen Gifford's circus or are a circus fanatic.

Touching and well-written, 12 Nov 2004
Nell Stroud fell in love with traditional circuses and learned her circus skills the hard way. This book is vivid on the hardships of circus life, the difficulties of establishing yourself as a circus person rather than a 'josser' (an outsider passing through), and the joys of circus as an art form.

A Great Read, 24 Oct 2002
There hasn't been a book like "Josser" since Paul Galligo's "Love, Let Me Not Hunger" in the 1960's.
Like Galligo Nell Stroud neither plays up to the imagined fairy tale of the circus nor looks down on it, but instead looks at the ailing traditional industry in UK through an outsider's eyes. What you get is an evocative and honest story of a young woman's quest for her childhood dream.

"Josser" brings the circus tale up to date and makes great comparisons between the different types of shows and the people who live on them. There is also a great passage explaining how circuses relate to the country of their origin.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Josser" and look forward to Ms. Stroud's next publication, "Phillip Astley."

THE SAWDUST WORLD BEHIND THE BIG TOP, 20 Apr 2000
Nell Stroud shows us her highly individual view of the world of the Circus -- a world peopled by stubborn, physically hard people who aren't intending to let go of their way of life in spite of the efforts of politicians and campaigners. She finds that the 'romance' is just blood, sweat, and tears; and then changes managements to find a show that seems genuinely romantic and quaint by comparison with the larger circus she's just abandoned. Not always totally accurate, but conveying the raw 'feel' of life under and around the Big Top.

A truly great book., 08 Jul 1999
Read this and weep,and then laugh and smile and be awed by someone who chose to travel her own road.

It Is All Quite A Show, 14 Oct 2006
There are plenty of stories about the boy who ran away to join the circus, but few such actual boys. Gerry Cottle is one. He had had a British middle class upbringing, and was sent to a fine grammar school, where "I had done as little work as possible, bluffed my way through every test and bunked a day's school wherever I could in order to work on my circus skills." And so in 1961 at age fifteen he ran away, leaving a message to his parents, "Please do not under any circumstances try to find me. I have gone forever. I have joined the circus. You do not understand me... I have gone." He had at age eight formed his ultimate ambition, to own the biggest circus Britain had ever seen, and he was to make good on that goal, and many others besides. He tells a colorful life story (with documentary maker Helen Batten) in _Confessions of a Showman: My Life in the Circus_ (Vision), a lively warts-and-all autobiography that tells his unique story from elephant muck to big top success, with world travel and cocaine addiction thrown in.

Cottle had taught himself juggling with fruits from his mother's kitchen, and his dad even encouraged performance in front of his Masonic lodge when Cottle was thirteen. He has a memory of his upbringing as simply being a period when he was forced to wear gray, and when the circus came to town, he got to see colors, sequins, and pretty girls. Having left home, he took up in the Roberts Brothers Circus, where among other things he played the rear end of a pantomime horse. He had other menial tasks, cleaning up after the elephants being the worst one; the circus was grubby hard work, and he loved it. He loved the companionship and pestered all the circus staff to tell him stories about their lives. There was an enormous problem for him, though; he was a "flattie" or a "josser", circus slang for an outsider. The big circuses were family affairs, and as a josser, Cottle was not going to get to be a performer. He worked on his juggling, and aspired to be a clown, but the family frankly told him, "You'll never be a clown, you're only a tent man." He went on to a smaller circus that was less picky, and got to perform, but realized that as much as he enjoyed showing off, especially to the girls, he was not the most talented of ring acts. He could only be big in the circus by owning and directing one, and he did get training in important administrative details like how to put up posters (put them in the main streets and concentrate on the better class of shops, and also enjoy the kick of putting your own poster over that of your competitor). But he was still a josser, and he needed the contacts and cooperation of an established circus family: "I was only going to get this by becoming one of them."

The way to do that was to marry in, and that is just what he did. He first saw Betty Fossett as he was working in her family's circus. She did a lasso act and she showed off her performing dogs. She was, however, only twelve. He pursued her avidly, and was in love with her despite the admitted attraction of becoming part of the family. They moved together into a caravan by the time she was sixteen, and they eventually married. It was a tempestuous relationship, complicated by a difficult life on the road and his womanizing and drug use. Before it wound up, the marriage did produce three daughters, who became, respectively, a juggler, a trapeze artist, and a trick rider. Cottle expresses enormous fondness for his daughters, and also for the son who has gone into non-circus public relations.

He has no fondness for animal rights protesters: "Generally they were a filthy lot. Lots of unemployed people and students with nothing better to do than to stir up a fuss." They were no problem when he was starting his career, but in the seventies the tide turned and towns which had welcomed the circus would no longer allow it to set up. At a time when a circus was not thought to be a circus without lions and elephants, the performers felt their whole traditional way of life was being questioned. Cottle was exasperated that giving the animals the demanded exercise cages did not satisfy any protesters (and the lions, being particularly lazy, just lay around as they always did and never got any exercise). He delights in telling about the absurdities of the protests. A week before they were to set up in Dorset, he got a letter from the Weymouth town council to say that unless the picture of King Kong on the posters were removed, the circus could not be set up. Not only was there no real King Kong, there was no real gorilla, only a clown in a gorilla costume. Towns famous for their horseracing protested that circus horses were abused. In one routine, clowns lifted the lid of a dish to reveal a live duck in an otherwise animal-free show, but the local council of Haringey refused to have any live animal performing. Cottle and his assistants went out and counted all they places (especially Chinese restaurants) in Haringey that served duck, and rode a publicity wave of headlines like "You can eat a duck in Haringey but you can't watch it perform!" There were some such publicity successes but eventually keeping animals in the acts was more trouble than it was worth. Cottle thinks that this reflects a prejudice against circuses that is a particular form of English snobbery. "In the rest of Europe circus is seen as a precious art form, which is ironic when circus started in Britain. Here we are seen as barely better than gypsies, and we all know how they are treated."

Cottle moved on to the Circus of Horrors, which was a big success with young people, and to fun fairs, and his current project of the caves and the amusement park at Wookey Hole. He has been clean of cocaine for several years; his book has many harrowing stories about the effects of his habit on his business and on his family life. Cottle, now that he is an elder statesman for the circus, is no longer running a circus, but he has, after many falls, landed on his feet. There are plenty of passages of sadness, financial reverses, and self recrimination in his book, but overall it is a rollicking memoir of a unique life. Readers will learn the vital nature of candy floss (that's cotton candy to us Americans) to make or break a circus's budget. There are details of how to transport a circus overseas, with all the animals, as Cottle responded in 1975 to the decree of the Sultan of Oman: "He wants a British circus in Oman in December." (What simpler times those were.) On another trip he and his circus found themselves in the middle of the Iranian revolution. Like any showman, he gives descriptions that leave the reader wishing to be able to see the thing described, like the "hot-air balloon father and daughter act which consisted of the balloon whirling around at an impossible speed and them falling out and their clothes falling off." He reveals the trick of how to stick one's head into a crocodile's mouth, but there is no trick that will let one escape from the greatest danger, the vile breath of the crocodile. He tells how he staged the worlds largest (_Guinness_-approved) custard pie fight, complete with two concrete mixers to make the custard. His book is a recounting of a romp of a life, full of odd events and funny stories. It's a great show.

Excellent - thoroughly entertaining!, 06 Sep 2006
I didn't think I'd like this - I'm not particularly a fan of the circus, but after seeing Gerry Cottle on Richard and Judy I was intrigued and decided to give his biography a read. In a way Gerry Cottle could be described as the Robbie Williams of his day (or rather, Robbie Williams is the Gerry Cottle of today!). Gerry has led a very interesting life - he was the world's first confirmed sex-addict (long before Michael Douglas!), was a cocaine addict and is the most successful circus boss ever. Apart from that, the circus world is certainly a weird and wacky one - Gerry describes how he regularly stuck his head in a crocodile's mouth and describes what clowns really get up to back stage!

I really did enjoy this book - everyone should give it a try, especially fans of the circus and entertainment in general.




I could almost smell the candyfloss', 04 Sep 2006
I bought this book after seeing Gerry on an afternoon chat show. He really
had me laughing, and I wanted to know more. Circuses are great and it's a
shame they aren't what they used to be any more and reading this book was a
trip down memory lane, I could almost smell the candyfloss! If youve ever
been to the circus, you will love this book.

Stunning, 04 Sep 2006
I really do not like circuses - always having felt they are degrading for the animals and humans involved so can hardly believe that I went out in search of Gerry Cottle's book after seeing him on Richard & Judy. I'm glad I did too as I see circuses in a totally new light now and as a piece of British heritage that has almost been forgotten. Gerry Cottle has had an interesting life and he tells of the spills and thrills with gusto - I guess that a lot has been left out. Buy this book even if, like me, you think that you don't like circuses - Gerry will make you change your mind and you'll be thoroughly entertained to boot.

Cottle on speed, 02 Sep 2006
A fast paced insight into the world of the circus through the eyes of a circus owner between 1970 and the present day. Full of crazy anecdotes about life on the circus. Unputdownable!

Be prepared to cry!, 30 Dec 2005
If you have never been aware of the proceedure of FGM (female genital mutilation) or female circumsison, then this book will enlighten and astound you. Enlighten, with facts, figures and research carried out by the author and her team, and astound by the sheer fact that this 'cutting' 'torture' and 'violence' is still going on today, in the name of religion and culture. In tiny African villages? you may ask. No! right on our very own doorsteps in England, Germany, France, Austria.
Waris travels Europe and finds and talks to women who have suffered this crime, and looks for resolutions to end what she herself suffered at the age of five.
From the start to the end, I cried, reading stories from these women of how their lives had been ruined, both physically and psychologically. This is a very powerful book, that pulls no punches and is not an easy read due to its gruelling content. Waris Dirie has forged the road others must travel in putting an end to this practice. I applaud her.

Read the book..see the circus., 15 Jan 2006
I decided to buy this book after seeing Nell's own show - Gifford's circus, at the Hay on Wye festival last summer. I can honestly say that hers is the best circus I have ever been to, it was the complete epitome of everything I believe a circus should be. Reading this book led me to see where the inspiration for her circus came from.
The book itself, I will be honest, is not a great read. Stroud is not a natural writer, her style does not flow. However, if you can plough through it, its a great story. An incredible story, I might say. It is made all the more real by the fact that I have actually seen Nell's circus.
I have been to quite a few circus shows but never really given much thought to the people in them. This book uncovers the reality behind the romance, through the eyes of an outsider. It shows the true hardships and poverty of life on the road. It also shows what the politically correct British are doing to their way of life - killing it.
Stroud laments an England gone by and I think the best quote of the book has to be.. 'I doubt Santus circus will ever have an e-mail address..it is just a circus.'
Although on the surface, this book is very much about the circus, on another level it is also about Stroud's own life. Stroud admits herself that a reason for joining the circus was due to her mothers accident. She writes about human nature as well as the circus. This is a very interesting book, although I doubt it would be of much interest to you unless you have seen Gifford's circus or are a circus fanatic.

Touching and well-written, 12 Nov 2004
Nell Stroud fell in love with traditional circuses and learned her circus skills the hard way. This book is vivid on the hardships of circus life, the difficulties of establishing yourself as a circus person rather than a 'josser' (an outsider passing through), and the joys of circus as an art form.

A Great Read, 24 Oct 2002
There hasn't been a book like "Josser" since Paul Galligo's "Love, Let Me Not Hunger" in the 1960's.
Like Galligo Nell Stroud neither plays up to the imagined fairy tale of the circus nor looks down on it, but instead looks at the ailing traditional industry in UK through an outsider's eyes. What you get is an evocative and honest story of a young woman's quest for her childhood dream.

"Josser" brings the circus tale up to date and makes great comparisons between the different types of shows and the people who live on them. There is also a great passage explaining how circuses relate to the country of their origin.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Josser" and look forward to Ms. Stroud's next publication, "Phillip Astley."

THE SAWDUST WORLD BEHIND THE BIG TOP, 20 Apr 2000
Nell Stroud shows us her highly individual view of the world of the Circus -- a world peopled by stubborn, physically hard people who aren't intending to let go of their way of life in spite of the efforts of politicians and campaigners. She finds that the 'romance' is just blood, sweat, and tears; and then changes managements to find a show that seems genuinely romantic and quaint by comparison with the larger circus she's just abandoned. Not always totally accurate, but conveying the raw 'feel' of life under and around the Big Top.

A truly great book., 08 Jul 1999
Read this and weep,and then laugh and smile and be awed by someone who chose to travel her own road.

It Is All Quite A Show, 14 Oct 2006
There are plenty of stories about the boy who ran away to join the circus, but few such actual boys. Gerry Cottle is one. He had had a British middle class upbringing, and was sent to a fine grammar school, where "I had done as little work as possible, bluffed my way through every test and bunked a day's school wherever I could in order to work on my circus skills." And so in 1961 at age fifteen he ran away, leaving a message to his parents, "Please do not under any circumstances try to find me. I have gone forever. I have joined the circus. You do not understand me... I have gone." He had at age eight formed his ultimate ambition, to own the biggest circus Britain had ever seen, and he was to make good on that goal, and many others besides. He tells a colorful life story (with documentary maker Helen Batten) in _Confessions of a Showman: My Life in the Circus_ (Vision), a lively warts-and-all autobiography that tells his unique story from elephant muck to big top success, with world travel and cocaine addiction thrown in.

Cottle had taught himself juggling with fruits from his mother's kitchen, and his dad even encouraged performance in front of his Masonic lodge when Cottle was thirteen. He has a memory of his upbringing as simply being a period when he was forced to wear gray, and when the circus came to town, he got to see colors, sequins, and pretty girls. Having left home, he took up in the Roberts Brothers Circus, where among other things he played the rear end of a pantomime horse. He had other menial tasks, cleaning up after the elephants being the worst one; the circus was grubby hard work, and he loved it. He loved the companionship and pestered all the circus staff to tell him stories about their lives. There was an enormous problem for him, though; he was a "flattie" or a "josser", circus slang for an outsider. The big circuses were family affairs, and as a josser, Cottle was not going to get to be a performer. He worked on his juggling, and aspired to be a clown, but the family frankly told him, "You'll never be a clown, you're only a tent man." He went on to a smaller circus that was less picky, and got to perform, but realized that as much as he enjoyed showing off, especially to the girls, he was not the most talented of ring acts. He could only be big in the circus by owning and directing one, and he did get training in important administrative details like how to put up posters (put them in the main streets and concentrate on the better class of shops, and also enjoy the kick of putting your own poster over that of your competitor). But he was still a josser, and he needed the contacts and cooperation of an established circus family: "I was only going to get this by becoming one of them."

The way to do that was to marry in, and that is just what he did. He first saw Betty Fossett as he was working in her family's circus. She did a lasso act and she showed off her performing dogs. She was, however, only twelve. He pursued her avidly, and was in love with her despite the admitted attraction of becoming part of the family. They moved together into a caravan by the time she was sixteen, and they eventually married. It was a tempestuous relationship, complicated by a difficult life on the road and his womanizing and drug use. Before it wound up, the marriage did produce three daughters, who became, respectively, a juggler, a trapeze artist, and a trick rider. Cottle expresses enormous fondness for his daughters, and also for the son who has gone into non-circus public relations.

He has no fondness for animal rights protesters: "Generally they were a filthy lot. Lots of unemployed people and students with nothing better to do than to stir up a fuss." They were no problem when he was starting his career, but in the seventies the tide turned and towns which had welcomed the circus would no longer allow it to set up. At a time when a circus was not thought to be a circus without lions and elephants, the performers felt their whole traditional way of life was being questioned. Cottle was exasperated that giving the animals the demanded exercise cages did not satisfy any protesters (and the lions, being particularly lazy, just lay around as they always did and never got any exercise). He delights in telling about the absurdities of the protests. A week before they were to set up in Dorset, he got a letter from the Weymouth town council to say that unless the picture of King Kong on the posters were removed, the circus could not be set up. Not only was there no real King Kong, there was no real gorilla, only a clown in a gorilla costume. Towns famous for their horseracing protested that circus horses were abused. In one routine, clowns lifted the lid of a dish to reveal a live duck in an otherwise animal-free show, but the local council of Haringey refused to have any live animal performing. Cottle and his assistants went out and counted all they places (especially Chinese restaurants) in Haringey that served duck, and rode a publicity wave of headlines like "You can eat a duck in Haringey but you can't watch it perform!" There were some such publicity successes but eventually keeping animals in the acts was more trouble than it was worth. Cottle thinks that this reflects a prejudice against circuses that is a particular form of English snobbery. "In the rest of Europe circus is seen as a precious art form, which is ironic when circus started in Britain. Here we are seen as barely better than gypsies, and we all know how they are treated."

Cottle moved on to the Circus of Horrors, which was a big success with young people, and to fun fairs, and his current project of the caves and the amusement park at Wookey Hole. He has been clean of cocaine for several years; his book has many harrowing stories about the effects of his habit on his business and on his family life. Cottle, now that he is an elder statesman for the circus, is no longer running a circus, but he has, after many falls, landed on his feet. There are plenty of passages of sadness, financial reverses, and self recrimination in his book, but overall it is a rollicking memoir of a unique life. Readers will learn the vital nature of candy floss (that's cotton candy to us Americans) to make or break a circus's budget. There are details of how to transport a circus overseas, with all the animals, as Cottle responded in 1975 to the decree of the Sultan of Oman: "He wants a British circus in Oman in December." (What simpler times those were.) On another trip he and his circus found themselves in the middle of the Iranian revolution. Like any showman, he gives descriptions that leave the reader wishing to be able to see the thing described, like the "hot-air balloon father and daughter act which consisted of the balloon whirling around at an impossible speed and them falling out and their clothes falling off." He reveals the trick of how to stick one's head into a crocodile's mouth, but there is no trick that will let one escape from the greatest danger, the vile breath of the crocodile. He tells how he staged the worlds largest (_Guinness_-approved) custard pie fight, complete with two concrete mixers to make the custard. His book is a recounting of a romp of a life, full of odd events and funny stories. It's a great show.

Excellent - thoroughly entertaining!, 06 Sep 2006
I didn't think I'd like this - I'm not particularly a fan of the circus, but after seeing Gerry Cottle on Richard and Judy I was intrigued and decided to give his biography a read. In a way Gerry Cottle could be described as the Robbie Williams of his day (or rather, Robbie Williams is the Gerry Cottle of today!). Gerry has led a very interesting life - he was the world's first confirmed sex-addict (long before Michael Douglas!), was a cocaine addict and is the most successful circus boss ever. Apart from that, the circus world is certainly a weird and wacky one - Gerry describes how he regularly stuck his head in a crocodile's mouth and describes what clowns really get up to back stage!

I really did enjoy this book - everyone should give it a try, especially fans of the circus and entertainment in general.




I could almost smell the candyfloss', 04 Sep 2006
I bought this book after seeing Gerry on an afternoon chat show. He really
had me laughing, and I wanted to know more. Circuses are great and it's a
shame they aren't what they used to be any more and reading this book was a
trip down memory lane, I could almost smell the candyfloss! If youve ever
been to the circus, you will love this book.

Stunning, 04 Sep 2006
I really do not like circuses - always having felt they are degrading for the animals and humans involved so can hardly believe that I went out in search of Gerry Cottle's book after seeing him on Richard & Judy. I'm glad I did too as I see circuses in a totally new light now and as a piece of British heritage that has almost been forgotten. Gerry Cottle has had an interesting life and he tells of the spills and thrills with gusto - I guess that a lot has been left out. Buy this book even if, like me, you think that you don't like circuses - Gerry will make you change your mind and you'll be thoroughly entertained to boot.

Cottle on speed, 02 Sep 2006
A fast paced insight into the world of the circus through the eyes of a circus owner between 1970 and the present day. Full of crazy anecdotes about life on the circus. Unputdownable!

Be prepared to cry!, 30 Dec 2005
If you have never been aware of the proceedure of FGM (female genital mutilation) or female circumsison, then this book will enlighten and astound you. Enlighten, with facts, figures and research carried out by the author and her team, and astound by the sheer fact that this 'cutting' 'torture' and 'violence' is still going on today, in the name of religion and culture. In tiny African villages? you may ask. No! right on our very own doorsteps in England, Germany, France, Austria.
Waris travels Europe and finds and talks to women who have suffered this crime, and looks for resolutions to end what she herself suffered at the age of five.
From the start to the end, I cried, reading stories from these women of how their lives had been ruined, both physically and psychologically. This is a very powerful book, that pulls no punches and is not an easy read due to its gruelling content. Waris Dirie has forged the road others must travel in putting an end to this practice. I applaud her.

A tribute to the WTC towers and one dream they inspired, 27 Jun 2004
On an otherwise normal day in August 1974, a young Frenchman pulled off what may be the most impressive (not to mention foolhardy) wire-walking exhibition in history. New York City's early commuters looked up to the almost-completed World Trade Center towers to see a man, experienced aerialist Phillippe Petit, walking back and forth across them on a wire. This amazing (albeit highly illegal) achievement has now been immortalized in impressive ink and oil paintings in Mordicai Gerstein in The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. Among the artwork you will find the ingenious use of two foldout illustrations, each one establishing an amazing change in perspective of Petit's wire-walking feat and making the drama of the event all that more palpable. Published in 2003 and the recipient of The Caldecott Medal, this book is sure to captivate many young minds with its story and artistry (with a sense of vertigo thrown in absolutely free of charge), and it does stand as something of a touching reminder of the two towers that fell on September 11, 2001 and the spell they cast in their own silent yet mighty fortitude.

Alongside the artwork is the story, economically told, of Petit's dream and the manner in which he made it come true. It describes how he and some friends dressed up as construction workers, hid out on both towers until nightfall, and got the wire-walking cable (which was a mere seven-eighths of an inch wide) in place, after which Petit walked, ran, danced, and even lay down on the outstretched wire over the course of nearly an hour. He was then, of course, arrested but, to my surprise, ordered only to perform his feats for the children of New York City. This is a fabulous story that will literally take your breath away, especially if you are as afraid of heights as I am, but I can't get over just how dangerous and illegal this was (to his friends as well as himself) and can only wonder how Petit got off so easily.

Read the book..see the circus., 15 Jan 2006
I decided to buy this book after seeing Nell's own show - Gifford's circus, at the Hay on Wye festival last summer. I can honestly say that hers is the best circus I have ever been to, it was the complete epitome of everything I believe a circus should be. Reading this book led me to see where the inspiration for her circus came from.
The book itself, I will be honest, is not a great read. Stroud is not a natural writer, her style does not flow. However, if you can plough through it, its a great story. An incredible story, I might say. It is made all the more real by the fact that I have actually seen Nell's circus.
I have been to quite a few circus shows but never really given much thought to the people in them. This book uncovers the reality behind the romance, through the eyes of an outsider. It shows the true hardships and poverty of life on the road. It also shows what the politically correct British are doing to their way of life - killing it.
Stroud laments an England gone by and I think the best quote of the book has to be.. 'I doubt Santus circus will ever have an e-mail address..it is just a circus.'
Although on the surface, this book is very much about the circus, on another level it is also about Stroud's own life. Stroud admits herself that a reason for joining the circus was due to her mothers accident. She writes about human nature as well as the circus. This is a very interesting book, although I doubt it would be of much interest to you unless you have seen Gifford's circus or are a circus fanatic.

Touching and well-written, 12 Nov 2004
Nell Stroud fell in love with traditional circuses and learned her circus skills the hard way. This book is vivid on the hardships of circus life, the difficulties of establishing yourself as a circus person rather than a 'josser' (an outsider passing through), and the joys of circus as an art form.

A Great Read, 24 Oct 2002
There hasn't been a book like "Josser" since Paul Galligo's "Love, Let Me Not Hunger" in the 1960's.
Like Galligo Nell Stroud neither plays up to the imagined fairy tale of the circus nor looks down on it, but instead looks at the ailing traditional industry in UK through an outsider's eyes. What you get is an evocative and honest story of a young woman's quest for her childhood dream.

"Josser" brings the circus tale up to date and makes great comparisons between the different types of shows and the people who live on them. There is also a great passage explaining how circuses relate to the country of their origin.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Josser" and look forward to Ms. Stroud's next publication, "Phillip Astley."

THE SAWDUST WORLD BEHIND THE BIG TOP, 20 Apr 2000
Nell Stroud shows us her highly individual view of the world of the Circus -- a world peopled by stubborn, physically hard people who aren't intending to let go of their way of life in spite of the efforts of politicians and campaigners. She finds that the 'romance' is just blood, sweat, and tears; and then changes managements to find a show that seems genuinely romantic and quaint by comparison with the larger circus she's just abandoned. Not always totally accurate, but conveying the raw 'feel' of life under and around the Big Top.

A truly great book., 08 Jul 1999
Read this and weep,and then laugh and smile and be awed by someone who chose to travel her own road.

It Is All Quite A Show, 14 Oct 2006
There are plenty of stories about the boy who ran away to join the circus, but few such actual boys. Gerry Cottle is one. He had had a British middle class upbringing, and was sent to a fine grammar school, where "I had done as little work as possible, bluffed my way through every test and bunked a day's school wherever I could in order to work on my circus skills." And so in 1961 at age fifteen he ran away, leaving a message to his parents, "Please do not under any circumstances try to find me. I have gone forever. I have joined the circus. You do not understand me... I have gone." He had at age eight formed his ultimate ambition, to own the biggest circus Britain had ever seen, and he was to make good on that goal, and many others besides. He tells a colorful life story (with documentary maker Helen Batten) in _Confessions of a Showman: My Life in the Circus_ (Vision), a lively warts-and-all autobiography that tells his unique story from elephant muck to big top success, with world travel and cocaine addiction thrown in.

Cottle had taught himself juggling with fruits from his mother's kitchen, and his dad even encouraged performance in front of his Masonic lodge when Cottle was thirteen. He has a memory of his upbringing as simply being a period when he was forced to wear gray, and when the circus came to town, he got to see colors, sequins, and pretty girls. Having left home, he took up in the Roberts Brothers Circus, where among other things he played the rear end of a pantomime horse. He had other menial tasks, cleaning up after the elephants being the worst one; the circus was grubby hard work, and he loved it. He loved the companionship and pestered all the circus staff to tell him stories about their lives. There was an enormous problem for him, though; he was a "flattie" or a "josser", circus slang for an outsider. The big circuses were family affairs, and as a josser, Cottle was not going to get to be a performer. He worked on his juggling, and aspired to be a clown, but the family frankly told him, "You'll never be a clown, you're only a tent man." He went on to a smaller circus that was less picky, and got to perform, but realized that as much as he enjoyed showing off, especially to the girls, he was not the most talented of ring acts. He could only be big in the circus by owning and directing one, and he did get training in important administrative details like how to put up posters (put them in the main streets and concentrate on the better class of shops, and also enjoy the kick of putting your own poster over that of your competitor). But he was still a josser, and he needed the contacts and cooperation of an established circus family: "I was only going to get this by becoming one of them."

The way to do that was to marry in, and that is just what he did. He first saw Betty Fossett as he was working in her family's circus. She did a lasso act and she showed off her performing dogs. She was, however, only twelve. He pursued her avidly, and was in love with her despite the admitted attraction of becoming part of the family. They moved together into a caravan by the time she was sixteen, and they eventually married. It was a tempestuous relationship, complicated by a difficult life on the road and his womanizing and drug use. Before it wound up, the marriage did produce three daughters, who became, respectively, a juggler, a trapeze artist, and a trick rider. Cottle expresses enormous fondness for his daughters, and also for the son who has gone into non-circus public relations.

He has no fondness for animal rights protesters: "Generally they were a filthy lot. Lots of unemployed people and students with nothing better to do than to stir up a fuss." They were no problem when he was starting his career, but in the seventies the tide turned and towns which had welcomed the circus would no longer allow it to set up. At a time when a circus was not thought to be a circus without lions and elephants, the performers felt their whole traditional way of life was being questioned. Cottle was exasperated that giving the animals the demanded exercise cages did not satisfy any protesters (and the lions, being particularly lazy, just lay around as they always did and never got any exercise). He delights in telling about the absurdities of the protests. A week before they were to set up in Dorset, he got a letter from the Weymouth town council to say that unless the picture of King Kong on the posters were removed, the circus could not be set up. Not only was there no real King Kong, there was no real gorilla, only a clown in a gorilla costume. Towns famous for their horseracing protested that circus horses were abused. In one routine, clowns lifted the lid of a dish to reveal a live duck in an otherwise animal-free show, but the local council of Haringey refused to have any live animal performing. Cottle and his assistants went out and counted all they places (especially Chinese restaurants) in Haringey that served duck, and rode a publicity wave of headlines like "You can eat a duck in Haringey but you can't watch it perform!" There were some such publicity successes but eventually keeping animals in the acts was more trouble than it was worth. Cottle thinks that this reflects a prejudice against circuses that is a particular form of English snobbery. "In the rest of Europe circus is seen as a precious art form, which is ironic when circus started in Britain. Here we are seen as barely better than gypsies, and we all know how they are treated."

Cottle moved on to the Circus of Horrors, which was a big success with young people, and to fun fairs, and his current project of the caves and the amusement park at Wookey Hole. He has been clean of cocaine for several years; his book has many harrowing stories about the effects of his habit on his business and on his family life. Cottle, now that he is an elder statesman for the circus, is no longer running a circus, but he has, after many falls, landed on his feet. There are plenty of passages of sadness, financial reverses, and self recrimination in his book, but overall it is a rollicking memoir of a unique life. Readers will learn the vital nature of candy floss (that's cotton candy to us Americans) to make or break a circus's budget. There are details of how to transport a circus overseas, with all the animals, as Cottle responded in 1975 to the decree of the Sultan of Oman: "He wants a British circus in Oman in December." (What simpler times those were.) On another trip he and his circus found themselves in the middle of the Iranian revolution. Like any showman, he gives descriptions that leave the reader wishing to be able to see the thing described, like the "hot-air balloon father and daughter act which consisted of the balloon whirling around at an impossible speed and them falling out and their clothes falling off." He reveals the trick of how to stick one's head into a crocodile's mouth, but there is no trick that will let one escape from the greatest danger, the vile breath of the crocodile. He tells how he staged the worlds largest (_Guinness_-approved) custard pie fight, complete with two concrete mixers to make the custard. His book is a recounting of a romp of a life, full of odd events and funny stories. It's a great show.

Excellent - thoroughly entertaining!, 06 Sep 2006
I didn't think I'd like this - I'm not particularly a fan of the circus, but after seeing Gerry Cottle on Richard and Judy I was intrigued and decided to give his biography a read. In a way Gerry Cottle could be described as the Robbie Williams of his day (or rather, Robbie Williams is the Gerry Cottle of today!). Gerry has led a very interesting life - he was the world's first confirmed sex-addict (long before Michael Douglas!), was a cocaine addict and is the most successful circus boss ever. Apart from that, the circus world is certainly a weird and wacky one - Gerry describes how he regularly stuck his head in a crocodile's mouth and describes what clowns really get up to back stage!

I really did enjoy this book - everyone should give it a try, especially fans of the circus and entertainment in general.




I could almost smell the candyfloss', 04 Sep 2006
I bought this book after seeing Gerry on an afternoon chat show. He really
had me laughing, and I wanted to know more. Circuses are great and it's a
shame they aren't what they used to be any more and reading this book was a
trip down memory lane, I could almost smell the candyfloss! If youve ever
been to the circus, you will love this book.

Stunning, 04 Sep 2006
I really do not like circuses - always having felt they are degrading for the animals and humans involved so can hardly believe that I went out in search of Gerry Cottle's book after seeing him on Richard & Judy. I'm glad I did too as I see circuses in a totally new light now and as a piece of British heritage that has almost been forgotten. Gerry Cottle has had an interesting life and he tells of the spills and thrills with gusto - I guess that a lot has been left out. Buy this book even if, like me, you think that you don't like circuses - Gerry will make you change your mind and you'll be thoroughly entertained to boot.

Cottle on speed, 02 Sep 2006
A fast paced insight into the world of the circus through the eyes of a circus owner between 1970 and the present day. Full of crazy anecdotes about life on the circus. Unputdownable!

Be prepared to cry!, 30 Dec 2005
If you have never been aware of the proceedure of FGM (female genital mutilation) or female circumsison, then this book will enlighten and astound you. Enlighten, with facts, figures and research carried out by the author and her team, and astound by the sheer fact that this 'cutting' 'torture' and 'violence' is still going on today, in the name of religion and culture. In tiny African villages? you may ask. No! right on our very own doorsteps in England, Germany, France, Austria.
Waris travels Europe and finds and talks to women who have suffered this crime, and looks for resolutions to end what she herself suffered at the age of five.
From the start to the end, I cried, reading stories from these women of how their lives had been ruined, both physically and psychologically. This is a very powerful book, that pulls no punches and is not an easy read due to its gruelling content. Waris Dirie has forged the road others must travel in putting an end to this practice. I applaud her.

A tribute to the WTC towers and one dream they inspired, 27 Jun 2004
On an otherwise normal day in August 1974, a young Frenchman pulled off what may be the most impressive (not to mention foolhardy) wire-walking exhibition in history. New York City's early commuters looked up to the almost-completed World Trade Center towers to see a man, experienced aerialist Phillippe Petit, walking back and forth across them on a wire. This amazing (albeit highly illegal) achievement has now been immortalized in impressive ink and oil paintings in Mordicai Gerstein in The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. Among the artwork you will find the ingenious use of two foldout illustrations, each one establishing an amazing change in perspective of Petit's wire-walking feat and making the drama of the event all that more palpable. Published in 2003 and the recipient of The Caldecott Medal, this book is sure to captivate many young minds with its story and artistry (with a sense of vertigo thrown in absolutely free of charge), and it does stand as something of a touching reminder of the two towers that fell on September 11, 2001 and the spell they cast in their own silent yet mighty fortitude.

Alongside the artwork is the story, economically told, of Petit's dream and the manner in which he made it come true. It describes how he and some friends dressed up as construction workers, hid out on both towers until nightfall, and got the wire-walking cable (which was a mere seven-eighths of an inch wide) in place, after which Petit walked, ran, danced, and even lay down on the outstretched wire over the course of nearly an hour. He was then, of course, arrested but, to my surprise, ordered only to perform his feats for the children of New York City. This is a fabulous story that will literally take your breath away, especially if you are as afraid of heights as I am, but I can't get over just how dangerous and illegal this was (to his friends as well as himself) and can only wonder how Petit got off so easily.

A truly inspirational read!, 07 Jul 2001
I couldn't put this book down - I read it in the back of an overland truck whilst on safari in Africa. It soon got passed around the whole group and becoming the most popular read the entire trip.

an absolutely beautiful and heartwarming story, 27 Aug 1999
This book is now my favorite book. The intimacy between Bram and Modoc is something we all yearn for in our own relationships. I completely adored the story.

CAN'T SAY ENOUGH WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT THIS BOOK!, 25 Aug 1999
I just loved it. It is hard to describe this book because it was so very unique. A truly inspiring story, so moving and emotional. It's unlike anything I've ever read.

heartwarming, breathtaking, and wonderfully written for all, 31 Jul 1999
Modoc has to be the most amazing story ever told about one's love for the animal kingdom. I was astonished with the retold accounts throughout the text........always reading on to find out what happened next to Bram and his beloved Modoc. I can honestly say it is my favorite book of all time for it touched my heart and actually did bring tears to my eyes as I completed it aboard an airline. I've handed it down to my sister to be read to my 6-year-old nephew. He's intrigued with the story and loves hearing it aloud. It's a book for all ages indeed!

What this book taught me about life., 24 Jul 1999
I read this amazing book in two days...it was a inspiration to me to, like Bram(Main character), never give up hope and to risk everything for a person OR animal.

Read the book..see the circus., 15 Jan 2006
I decided to buy this book after seeing Nell's own show - Gifford's circus, at the Hay on Wye festival last summer. I can honestly say that hers is the best circus I have ever been to, it was the complete epitome of everything I believe a circus should be. Reading this book led me to see where the inspiration for her circus came from.
The book itself, I will be honest, is not a great read. Stroud is not a natural writer, her style does not flow. However, if you can plough through it, its a great story. An incredible story, I might say. It is made all the more real by the fact that I have actually seen Nell's circus.
I have been to quite a few circus shows but never really given much thought to the people in them. This book uncovers the reality behind the romance, through the eyes of an outsider. It shows the true hardships and poverty of life on the road. It also shows what the politically correct British are doing to their way of life - killing it.
Stroud laments an England gone by and I think the best quote of the book has to be.. 'I doubt Santus circus will ever have an e-mail address..it is just a circus.'
Although on the surface, this book is very much about the circus, on another level it is also about Stroud's own life. Stroud admits herself that a reason for joining the circus was due to her mothers accident. She writes about human nature as well as the circus. This is a very interesting book, although I doubt it would be of much interest to you unless you have seen Gifford's circus or are a circus fanatic.

Touching and well-written, 12 Nov 2004
Nell Stroud fell in love with traditional circuses and learned her circus skills the hard way. This book is vivid on the hardships of circus life, the difficulties of establishing yourself as a circus person rather than a 'josser' (an outsider passing through), and the joys of circus as an art form.

A Great Read, 24 Oct 2002
There hasn't been a book like "Josser" since Paul Galligo's "Love, Let Me Not Hunger" in the 1960's.
Like Galligo Nell Stroud neither plays up to the imagined fairy tale of the circus nor looks down on it, but instead looks at the ailing traditional industry in UK through an outsider's eyes. What you get is an evocative and honest story of a young woman's quest for her childhood dream.

"Josser" brings the circus tale up to date and makes great comparisons between the different types of shows and the people who live on them. There is also a great passage explaining how circuses relate to the country of their origin.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Josser" and look forward to Ms. Stroud's next publication, "Phillip Astley."

THE SAWDUST WORLD BEHIND THE BIG TOP, 20 Apr 2000
Nell Stroud shows us her highly individual view of the world of the Circus -- a world peopled by stubborn, physically hard people who aren't intending to let go of their way of life in spite of the efforts of politicians and campaigners. She finds that the 'romance' is just blood, sweat, and tears; and then changes managements to find a show that seems genuinely romantic and quaint by comparison with the larger circus she's just abandoned. Not always totally accurate, but conveying the raw 'feel' of life under and around the Big Top.

A truly great book., 08 Jul 1999
Read this and weep,and then laugh and smile and be awed by someone who chose to travel her own road.

It Is All Quite A Show, 14 Oct 2006
There are plenty of stories about the boy who ran away to join the circus, but few such actual boys. Gerry Cottle is one. He had had a British middle class upbringing, and was sent to a fine grammar school, where "I had done as little work as possible, bluffed my way through every test and bunked a day's school wherever I could in order to work on my circus skills." And so in 1961 at age fifteen he ran away, leaving a message to his parents, "Please do not under any circumstances try to find me. I have gone forever. I have joined the circus. You do not understand me... I have gone." He had at age eight formed his ultimate ambition, to own the biggest circus Britain had ever seen, and he was to make good on that goal, and many others besides. He tells a colorful life story (with documentary maker Helen Batten) in _Confessions of a Showman: My Life in the Circus_ (Vision), a lively warts-and-all autobiography that tells his unique story from elephant muck to big top success, with world travel and cocaine addiction thrown in.

Cottle had taught himself juggling with fruits from his mother's kitchen, and his dad even encouraged performance in front of his Masonic lodge when Cottle was thirteen. He has a memory of his upbringing as simply being a period when he was forced to wear gray, and when the circus came to town, he got to see colors, sequins, and pretty girls. Having left home, he took up in the Roberts Brothers Circus, where among other things he played the rear end of a pantomime horse. He had other menial tasks, cleaning up after the elephants being the worst one; the circus was grubby hard work, and he loved it. He loved the companionship and pestered all the circus staff to tell him stories about their lives. There was an enormous problem for him, though; he was a "flattie" or a "josser", circus slang for an outsider. The big circuses were family affairs, and as a josser, Cottle was not going to get to be a performer. He worked on his juggling, and aspired to be a clown, but the family frankly told him, "You'll never be a clown, you're only a tent man." He went on to a smaller circus that was less picky, and got to perform, but realized that as much as he enjoyed showing off, especially to the girls, he was not the most talented of ring acts. He could only be big in the circus by owning and directing one, and he did get training in important administrative details like how to put up posters (put them in the main streets and concentrate on the better class of shops, and also enjoy the kick of putting your own poster over that of your competitor). But he was still a josser, and he needed the contacts and cooperation of an established circus family: "I was only going to get this by becoming one of them."

The way to do that was to marry in, and that is just what he did. He first saw Betty Fossett as he was working in her family's circus. She did a lasso act and she showed off her performing dogs. She was, however, only twelve. He pursued her avidly, and was in love with her despite the admitted attraction of becoming part of the family. They moved together into a caravan by the time she was sixteen, and they eventually married. It was a tempestuous relationship, complicated by a difficult life on the road and his womanizing and drug use. Before it wound up, the marriage did produce three daughters, who became, respectively, a juggler, a trapeze artist, and a trick rider. Cottle expresses enormous fondness for his daughters, and also for the son who has gone into non-circus public relations.

He has no fondness for animal rights protesters: "Generally they were a filthy lot. Lots of unemployed people and students with nothing better to do than to stir up a fuss." They were no problem when he was starting his career, but in the seventies the tide turned and towns which had welcomed the circus would no longer allow it to set up. At a time when a circus was not thought to be a circus without lions and elephants, the performers felt their whole traditional way of life was being questioned. Cottle was exasperated that giving the animals the demanded exercise cages did not satisfy any protesters (and the lions, being particularly lazy, just lay around as they always did and never got any exercise). He delights in telling about the absurdities of the protests. A week before they were to set up in Dorset, he got a letter from the Weymouth town council to say that unless the picture of King Kong on the posters were removed, the circus could not be set up. Not only was there no real King Kong, there was no real gorilla, only a clown in a gorilla costume. Towns famous for their horseracing protested that circus horses were abused. In one routine, clowns lifted the lid of a dish to reveal a live duck in an otherwise animal-free show, but the local council of Haringey refused to have any live animal performing. Cottle and his assistants went out and counted all they places (especially Chinese restaurants) in Haringey that served duck, and rode a publicity wave of headlines like "You can eat a duck in Haringey but you can't watch it perform!" There were some such publicity successes but eventually keeping animals in the acts was more trouble than it was worth. Cottle thinks that this reflects a prejudice against circuses that is a particular form of English snobbery. "In the rest of Europe circus is seen as a precious art form, which is ironic when circus started in Britain. Here we are seen as barely better than gypsies, and we all know how they are treated."

Cottle moved on to the Circus of Horrors, which was a big success with young people, and to fun fairs, and his current project of the caves and the amusement park at Wookey Hole. He has been clean of cocaine for several years; his book has many harrowing stories about the effects of his habit on his business and on his family life. Cottle, now that he is an elder statesman for the circus, is no longer running a circus, but he has, after many falls, landed on his feet. There are plenty of passages of sadness, financial reverses, and self recrimination in his book, but overall it is a rollicking memoir of a unique life. Readers will learn the vital nature of candy floss (that's cotton candy to us Americans) to make or break a circus's budget. There are details of how to transport a circus overseas, with all the animals, as Cottle responded in 1975 to the decree of the Sultan of Oman: "He wants a British circus in Oman in December." (What simpler times those were.) On another trip he and his circus found themselves in the middle of the Iranian revolution. Like any showman, he gives descriptions that leave the reader wishing to be able to see the thing described, like the "hot-air balloon father and daughter act which consisted of the balloon whirling around at an impossible speed and them falling out and their clothes falling off." He reveals the trick of how to stick one's head into a crocodile's mouth, but there is no trick that will let one escape from the greatest danger, the vile breath of the crocodile. He tells how he staged the worlds largest (_Guinness_-approved) custard pie fight, complete with two concrete mixers to make the custard. His book is a recounting of a romp of a life, full of odd events and funny stories. It's a great show.

Excellent - thoroughly entertaining!, 06 Sep 2006
I didn't think I'd like this - I'm not particularly a fan of the circus, but after seeing Gerry Cottle on Richard and Judy I was intrigued and decided to give his biography a read. In a way Gerry Cottle could be described as the Robbie Williams of his day (or rather, Robbie Williams is the Gerry Cottle of today!). Gerry has led a very interesting life - he was the world's first confirmed sex-addict (long before Michael Douglas!), was a cocaine addict and is the most successful circus boss ever. Apart from that, the circus world is certainly a weird and wacky one - Gerry describes how he regularly stuck his head in a crocodile's mouth and describes what clowns really get up to back stage!

I really did enjoy this book - everyone should give it a try, especially fans of the circus and entertainment in general.




I could almost smell the candyfloss', 04 Sep 2006
I bought this book after seeing Gerry on an afternoon chat show. He really
had me laughing, and I wanted to know more. Circuses are great and it's a
shame they aren't what they used to be any more and reading this book was a
trip down memory lane, I could almost smell the candyfloss! If youve ever
been to the circus, you will love this book.

Stunning, 04 Sep 2006
I really do not like circuses - always having felt they are degrading for the animals and humans involved so can hardly believe that I went out in search of Gerry Cottle's book after seeing him on Richard & Judy. I'm glad I did too as I see circuses in a totally new light now and as a piece of British heritage that has almost been forgotten. Gerry Cottle has had an interesting life and he tells of the spills and thrills with gusto - I guess that a lot has been left out. Buy this book even if, like me, you think that you don't like circuses - Gerry will make you change your mind and you'll be thoroughly entertained to boot.

Cottle on speed, 02 Sep 2006
A fast paced insight into the world of the circus through the eyes of a circus owner between 1970 and the present day. Full of crazy anecdotes about life on the circus. Unputdownable!

Be prepared to cry!, 30 Dec 2005
If you have never been aware of the proceedure of FGM (female genital mutilation) or female circumsison, then this book will enlighten and astound you. Enlighten, with facts, figures and research carried out by the author and her team, and astound by the sheer fact that this 'cutting' 'torture' and 'violence' is still going on today, in the name of religion and culture. In tiny African villages? you may ask. No! right on our very own doorsteps in England, Germany, France, Austria.
Waris travels Europe and finds and talks to women who have suffered this crime, and looks for resolutions to end what she herself suffered at the age of five.
From the start to the end, I cried, reading stories from these women of how their lives had been ruined, both physically and psychologically. This is a very powerful book, that pulls no punches and is not an easy read due to its gruelling content. Waris Dirie has forged the road others must travel in putting an end to this practice. I applaud her.

A tribute to the WTC towers and one dream they inspired, 27 Jun 2004
On an otherwise normal day in August 1974, a young Frenchman pulled off what may be the most impressive (not to mention foolhardy) wire-walking exhibition in history. New York City's early commuters looked up to the almost-completed World Trade Center towers to see a man, experienced aerialist Phillippe Petit, walking back and forth across them on a wire. This amazing (albeit highly illegal) achievement has now been immortalized in impressive ink and oil paintings in Mordicai Gerstein in The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. Among the artwork you will find the ingenious use of two foldout illustrations, each one establishing an amazing change in perspective of Petit's wire-walking feat and making the drama of the event all that more palpable. Published in 2003 and the recipient of The Caldecott Medal, this book is sure to captivate many young minds with its story and artistry (with a sense of vertigo thrown in absolutely free of charge), and it does stand as something of a touching reminder of the two towers that fell on September 11, 2001 and the spell they cast in their own silent yet mighty fortitude.

Alongside the artwork is the story, economically told, of Petit's dream and the manner in which he made it come true. It describes how he and some friends dressed up as construction workers, hid out on both towers until nightfall, and got the wire-walking cable (which was a mere seven-eighths of an inch wide) in place, after which Petit walked, ran, danced, and even lay down on the outstretched wire over the course of nearly an hour. He was then, of course, arrested but, to my surprise, ordered only to perform his feats for the children of New York City. This is a fabulous story that will literally take your breath away, especially if you are as afraid of heights as I am, but I can't get over just how dangerous and illegal this was (to his friends as well as himself) and can only wonder how Petit got off so easily.

A truly inspirational read!, 07 Jul 2001
I couldn't put this book down - I read it in the back of an overland truck whilst on safari in Africa. It soon got passed around the whole group and becoming the most popular read the entire trip.

an absolutely beautiful and heartwarming story, 27 Aug 1999
This book is now my favorite book. The intimacy between Bram and Modoc is something we all yearn for in our own relationships. I completely adored the story.

CAN'T SAY ENOUGH WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT THIS BOOK!, 25 Aug 1999
I just loved it. It is hard to describe this book because it was so very unique. A truly inspiring story, so moving and emotional. It's unlike anything I've ever read.

heartwarming, breathtaking, and wonderfully written for all, 31 Jul 1999
Modoc has to be the most amazing story ever told about one's love for the animal kingdom. I was astonished with the retold accounts throughout the text........always reading on to find out what happened next to Bram and his beloved Modoc. I can honestly say it is my favorite book of all time for it touched my heart and actually did bring tears to my eyes as I completed it aboard an airline. I've handed it down to my sister to be read to my 6-year-old nephew. He's intrigued with the story and loves hearing it aloud. It's a book for all ages indeed!

What this book taught me about life., 24 Jul 1999
I read this amazing book in two days...it was a inspiration to me to, like Bram(Main character), never give up hope and to risk everything for a person OR animal.

It Is All Quite A Show, 14 Oct 2006
There are plenty of stories about the boy who ran away to join the circus, but few such actual boys. Gerry Cottle is one. He had had a British middle class upbringing, and was sent to a fine grammar school, where "I had done as little work as possible, bluffed my way through every test and bunked a day's school wherever I could in order to work on my circus skills." And so in 1961 at age fifteen he ran away, leaving a message to his parents, "Please do not under any circumstances try to find me. I have gone forever. I have joined the circus. You do not understand me... I have gone." He had at age eight formed his ultimate ambition, to own the biggest circus Britain had ever seen, and he was to make good on that goal, and many others besides. He tells a colorful life story (with documentary maker Helen Batten) in _Confessions of a Showman: My Life in the Circus_ (Vision), a lively warts-and-all autobiography that tells his unique story from elephant muck to big top success, with world travel and cocaine addiction thrown in.

Cottle had taught himself juggling with fruits from his mother's kitchen, and his dad even encouraged performance in front of his Masonic lodge when Cottle was thirteen. He has a memory of his upbringing as simply being a period when he was forced to wear gray, and when the circus came to town, he got to see colors, sequins, and pretty girls. Having left home, he took up in the Roberts Brothers Circus, where among other things he played the rear end of a pantomime horse. He had other menial tasks, cleaning up after the elephants being the worst one; the circus was grubby hard work, and he loved it. He loved the companionship and pestered all the circus staff to tell him stories about their lives. There was an enormous problem for him, though; he was a "flattie" or a "josser", circus slang for an outsider. The big circuses were family affairs, and as a josser, Cottle was not going to get to be a performer. He worked on his juggling, and aspired to be a clown, but the family frankly told him, "You'll never be a clown, you're only a tent man." He went on to a smaller circus that was less picky, and got to perform, but realized that as much as he enjoyed showing off, especially to the girls, he was not the most talented of ring acts. He could only be big in the circus by owning and directing one, and he did get training in important administrative details like how to put up posters (put them in the main streets and concentrate on the better class of shops, and also enjoy the kick of putting your own poster over that of your competitor). But he was still a josser, and he needed the contacts and cooperation of an established circus family: "I was only going to get this by becoming one of them."

The way to do that was to marry in, and that is just what he did. He first saw Betty Fossett as he was working in her family's circus. She did a lasso act and she showed off her performing dogs. She was, however, only twelve. He pursued her avidly, and was in love with her despite the admitted attraction of becoming part of the family. They moved together into a caravan by the time she was sixteen, and they eventually married. It was a tempestuous relationship, complicated by a difficult life on the road and his womanizing and drug use. Before it wound up, the marriage did produce three daughters, who became, respectively, a juggler, a trapeze artist, and a trick rider. Cottle expresses enormous fondness for his daughters, and also for the son who has gone into non-circus public relations.

He has no fondness for animal rights protesters: "Generally they were a filthy lot. Lots of unemployed people and students with nothing better to do than to stir up a fuss." They were no problem when he was starting his career, but in the seventies the tide turned and towns which had welcomed the circus would no longer allow it to set up. At a time when a circus was not thought to be a circus without lions and elephants, the performers felt their whole traditional way of life was being questioned. Cottle was exasperated that giving the animals the demanded exercise cages did not satisfy any protesters (and the lions, being particularly lazy, just lay around as they always did and never got any exercise). He delights in telling about the absurdities of the protests. A week before they were to set up in Dorset, he got a letter from the Weymouth town council to say that unless the picture of King Kong on the posters were removed, the circus could not be set up. Not only was there no real King Kong, there was no real gorilla, only a clown in a gorilla costume. Towns famous for their horseracing protested that circus horses were abused. In one routine, clowns lifted the lid of a dish to reveal a live duck in an otherwise animal-free show, but the local council of Haringey refused to have any live animal performing. Cottle and his assistants went out and counted all they places (especially Chinese restaurants) in Haringey that served duck, and rode a publicity wave of headlines like "You can eat a duck in Haringey but you can't watch it perform!" There were some such publicity successes but eventually keeping animals in the acts was more trouble than it was worth. Cottle thinks that this reflects a prejudice against circuses that is a particular form of English snobbery. "In the rest of Europe circus is seen as a precious art form, which is ironic when circus started in Britain. Here we are seen as barely better than gypsies, and we all know how they are treated."

Cottle moved on to the Circus of Horrors, which was a big success with young people, and to fun fairs, and his current project of the caves and the amusement park at Wookey Hole. He has been clean of cocaine for several years; his book has many harrowing stories about the effects of his habit on his business and on his family life. Cottle, now that he is an elder statesman for the circus, is no longer running a circus, but he has, after many falls, landed on his feet. There are plenty of passages of sadness, financial reverses, and self recrimination in his book, but overall it is a rollicking memoir of a unique life. Readers will learn the vital nature of candy floss (that's cotton candy to us Americans) to make or break a circus's budget. There are details of how to transport a circus overseas, with all the animals, as Cottle responded in 1975 to the decree of the Sultan of Oman: "He wants a British circus in Oman in December." (What simpler times those were.) On another trip he and his circus found themselves in the middle of the Iranian revolution. Like any showman, he gives descriptions that leave the reader wishing to be able to see the thing described, like the "hot-air balloon father and daughter act which consisted of the balloon whirling around at an impossible speed and them falling out and their clothes falling off." He reveals the trick of how to stick one's head into a crocodile's mouth, but there is no trick that will let one escape from the greatest danger, the vile breath of the crocodile. He tells how he staged the worlds largest (_Guinness_-approved) custard pie fight, complete with two concrete mixers to make the custard. His book is a recounting of a romp of a life, full of odd events and funny stories. It's a great show.

Excellent - thoroughly entertaining!, 06 Sep 2006
I didn't think I'd like this - I'm not particularly a fan of the circus, but after seeing Gerry Cottle on Richard and Judy I was intrigued and decided to give his biography a read. In a way Gerry Cottle could be described as the Robbie Williams of his day (or rather, Robbie Williams is the Gerry Cottle of today!). Gerry has led a very interesting life - he was the world's first confirmed sex-addict (long before Michael Douglas!), was a cocaine addict and is the most successful circus boss ever. Apart fro