ePub Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding in Arts-Photography

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Sharp and wittyBy Todd ThompsonA tragic story told with engaging wit and sarcasm. Aside from the biography of Jumbo; it is; somewhat; a sordid tale of Jumbos owners and trainers; including one P.T. Barnum. It is full of elephant facts; lore; rumors; escapades; and tragic executions at the hands of homo sapiens.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Jumbo - Upsize - the connectionBy Carolyn EriksonProf Sutherlands encyclopedic knowledge of Literature and compassion for pachyderms; in particular the African Elephant; are combined into a witty; enjoyable and informative book - funny and sad..3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A Sad ElephantasiaBy Rob HardyWe love elephants; think of Horton and Babar; for instance. The elephant house is one of the most visited sections of the zoo; even though the big beasts usually do nothing but stand around. Circuses give top billing of all the animals to the elephants. And because we love them so; we have done elephants little good. That sad conclusion plays throughout the specific story and the larger descriptions within _Jumbo: The Unauthorized Biography of a Victorian Sensation_ (Aurum Press) by the prolific author on Victorian themes; John Sutherland. That ldquo;unauthorizedrdquo; in the title is the bookrsquo;s first joke; there is much good humor on display here in a truly sad story. The second joke comes before the text; where the author tells us the book isnrsquo;t what it says on the cover; ldquo;This is not a biography of the worldrsquo;s most renowned elephant; nor of its famed owners; the London Zoo and Phineas T. Barnum.rdquo; In fact; only the first half of the book deals with Jumbo himself; his sad death comes midway in the book; which thereafter covers Jumborsquo;s afterlife; other less famous elephants; the ivory trade; and more. Sutherland calls this an ldquo;elephantasia;rdquo; like just about everyone; he clearly loves elephants; and he has written with lightness; puns; and humor; all the while telling an infuriating story of misunderstanding and mistreatment of magnificent animals.Jumbo was to start in zoos and graduate to the circus. He had been born around 1860 in what is now Eritrea; an orphan so early that his mother was not around to socialize him into being a proper elephant. He wound up in a zoo in Paris; and failed to prosper or make a hit with the public. At the Zoological Society of London he had at least a sympathetic keeper; Matthew Scott. This did not save him from being tormented by whip or spear; but Jumbo was more tractable when Scott was around. Scott had a fondness for the bottle; and any success he had in bonding with Jumbo or getting the elephant to do his bidding is at least partially because Jumbo got his dose; too. When Jumbo was old enough to go through the aggressiveness of hormone-driven male elephant sexuality; the zoo was eager to get rid of him; and P. T. Barnum made a timely offer. The British press milked the protests against selling Jumbo to a Yankee; even then; reader rage was encouraged to increase circulation. But a deal was a deal; and with enormous difficulty in 1882; Jumbo was crated and shipped to his new country. Jumbo was a popular circus attraction until 1885 when he and the rest of the Barnum and Bailey circus were being loaded onto train cars after a show in St. Thomas; Ontario. There was some sort of rail confusion; and a train headed for Jumbo; who for some reason; charged into it; dying instantly as his tusks were driven into his brain. It was not much of a setback for Barnum. He promptly told the papers that Jumbo had died a hero; protecting another elephant. Then Barnum had Jumbo skinned; and stuffed (with extra volume added so he would look bigger); and displayed at a quarter a view. It was a sad end to a sad life.There is so much more sadness here. There is Topsy the elephant who in 1902 killed a drunken visitor who abused her by feeding her a lighted cigar. She had to be executed; and there was just the man to do so: Thomas Edison wanted to show the world how dangerous alternating current was; and did so by arranging Topsyrsquo;s electrocution. To make sure everyone knew that alternating current was so awful it could even kill an elephant; Edison arranged for the procedure to be filmed; and you can see it on YouTube to this day (using alternating current for your computer; of course). Another elephant was hanged for homicide (the unpleasant details of how one would hang an elephant are here). It is happier to learn about Dumbo the elephant; even if the Disney film failed because of Dumborsquo;s flying attack on the circus; funny enough when the film came out but not funny after Pearl Harbor a few weeks later. Sutherlandrsquo;s delight in literature is on show; John Donne wrote about elephants; as did Dorothy Parker; and of course Rudyard Kipling. But so did Joseph Conrad; remember that in _Heart of Darkness_; Kurtz was an ivory hunter. And the ivory went to billiard balls and piano keys; and though we have substitutes for those now; there are still rich people who want genuine ivory tchotchkes; and donrsquo;t care about cost or elephant welfare. Humans have not played the elephants fair despite our abiding affection for the big; lumbering beasts; and _Jumbo_; for all its weird and funny and sometimes touching stories; is a sorrowful and angry book.