The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

Esteemed novelist O'Nan turns from fictionalizing history in A Prayer for the Dying , a novel set in Wisconsin six years after the Civil War, to writing a nonfiction account of a terrible tragedy that left emotional scars on the community of Hartford, Connecticut. After becoming intrigued by the story of a circus fire that killed 167 people in Hartford in 1944--the biggest disaster in the history of the state--O'Nan was surprised to discover that no one had written a book about the incident. He set out to do the job himself, knowing that by doing so, he "would assume the obligation of telling hundreds of survivors' stories." On July 6, 1944, the big top of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus caught fire during an afternoon performance. Panic broke out as quickly as the fire, resulting in nightmarish carnage as people stampeded toward the exits and were trampled or burned alive. Body identification proved extremely difficult, and charges of involuntary manslaughter were brought against a group of circus employees, who were found guilty. The survivors were all damaged in their own way, and O'Nan fulfills his obligation by telling their stories fully and sympathetically. This poignant, gripping book is certain to generate interest in New England and beyond. ((Reviewed May 1, 2000))Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews

Celebrated novelist O'Nan re-creates the 1944 burning of a circus tent in Hartford, CT, which killed 167 people. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

This is a vivid, sometimes harrowing account of one of the worst disasters in the history of Connecticut and the history of the circus. On a hot day in July 1944, some 9000 people were attending the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford when a fire broke out. Mayhem and panic separated parents from children, some people were forced to crawl past the big cats in order to escape, and, in the end, many animals and 167 people died. Although O'Nan doesn't really solve the mystery of the origin of the fire, his attempt to identify the culprit makes a riveting side story. A novelist (e.g., A Prayer for the Dying), he provides a gripping, frightening account, filled with impressive detail, that many readers will find hard to put down. Although a Hartford story, this was a national tragedy and so is recommended for all public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/00.] Bonnie Collier, Yale Law Lib. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

On July 6, 1944, the big top of the Ringling Bros. circus caught fire during an afternoon performance in Hartford, Conn., and quickly burned to the ground. One hundred and sixty-seven people were killed most of them women and children and hundreds more wounded. When acclaimed novelist O'Nan (A Prayer for the Dying, etc.) moved to Hartford 50 years later, he discovered that the town was still haunted by the tragedy. His history of the event is lyrical, gruesome and heartbreaking. At the heart of the narrative is O'Nan's harrowing, minute-by-minute account of the actual burning, during which nearly 9,000 people scrambled to escape through just seven exits. One boy saved himself (and hundreds of others) by cutting a hole in the tent wall with his fishing knife. Another man literally threw children to safety before losing his footing and perishing in the blaze. Above them, the tent canvas, which had been waterproofed with gasoline andn paraffin, "rained down like napalm" on the necks and shoulders of the fleeing crowd. By the end, O'Nan reports, the heat was so intense that people died not from smoke inhalation, as in most fires, but by being cooked alive. O'Nan goes on to describe the bleak days after the disaster, when local families set about the morbid task of identifying loved ones, often possible only by using dental records. He also chronicles the four decades of detective work that led to the identification (in error, O'Nan believes) of a little girl whose body originally went unclaimed. This moving elegy does tribute both to the terrible tragedy and to O'Nan's talent as a writer. B&w photos. (June) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.