Books
Vaudevisuals Press is Proud to Present Their New Imprint, Outside Talker Press. OTP is Excited for “The Rise and Fall of the Sideshow Geek.”
Before “geek” became synonymous with computer wizardry, the term referred to the lowest of all carnival acts. Wild-eyed and unkempt, the geek would bite the head off of a chicken or rodent, splattering blood and crunching bone, as the animal writhed in death throes and horrified audiences looked on in disgust. Steeped in cruelty and controversy, not to mention dubious hygienics, geek shows are now largely a thing of the past. For hundreds of years, however, geeks were a popular form of entertainment, though farfetched promotional puffery, hyperbolic portrayals in books and films, and the sheer lack of credible information regarding the lowest of all lowbrow entertainment, have made it difficult to separate fact from fiction.
“The Rise and Fall of the Sideshow Geek” is the first book to present a detailed and unflinching history of the sideshow geek. Variety entertainer Nathan Wakefield sifts through historical documentation to answer all the burning questions about this gruesome variety act: “Who was the first sideshow geek?” “How did geek shows operate?” “What were some notable geeks?” In addition, the book examines adjacent genres of live entertainment including wild men, stone eaters, human ostriches, and competitive goldfish swallowers.
Outside Talker Press is an Imprint of Vaudevisuals Press.
“An impressive survey drawing back the curtains on one of the most strange and macabre corners of the history of popular entertainment and a must read for sideshow fans and performers… Step right up and peak inside (if you dare).” – Mistress Kali, The Southern Sideshow Hootenanny
Nathan Wakefield (Author) is a variety performer and sideshow historian from Southeast Michigan. Under the stage name “Nathan McScary,” he specializes in macabre juggling acts and innovative fire entertainment with exclusive props. Wakefield enjoys exploring the creative possibilities of object manipulation, re-creating 19th century gentleman juggling tricks, and studying performance styles that are just plain weird.
James Taylor (Forward) is the planet’s foremost authority on sideshow. He is the mastermind behind Shocked and Amazed! – On & Off the Midway, the only journal devoted to variety exhibition and life in the sideshow, published through Dolphin-Moon since 1995. Taylor has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, the Learning Channel’s Sideshow: Alive on the Inside and NPR’s The Derek McGinty Show.
Presales: March 8, 2023
Publication Date: June 1, 2023
Retail Price: $24.95
Presale price: $20 + postage & tax
Discount code: sideshow
Website: http://outsidetalkerpress.com
Books purchased during pre-sale will be shipped after the publication date.
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Jayme Byrd has published a new book, "Secrets of Lissa," tracing a young girl’s path from childhood into adulthood through a mix of real memory and invented detail. The book is published through Page Publishing.
Byrd spent four decades working as a nurse, according to the announcement, alongside raising a family across multiple generations as a wife, mother and grandmother. That professional background, spent listening to patients and observing how people carry hardship, shapes the perspective behind the book, the announcement states.
The book’s own description, listed under fiction in Google Books’ catalog, frames it plainly: the story is based on true events, but names and characteristics of the people in it have been changed, and while the saddest scenes reflect reality, other scenes were, in the author’s words, "enhanced to make my life seem better than it was." The listing poses the same question Byrd raises in the press materials: if you wrote your own life story, wouldn’t you want it told with a little more color?
The narrative centers on a protagonist selectively choosing which historical moments to present faithfully and which to reshape or soften, and asking readers to sit with the difference. Byrd is quoted in the announcement saying she wanted to "honor my journey by telling it authentically while also giving myself permission to make it beautiful," adding that life is worth celebrating "even when—or especially when—we’re recounting the hardest parts."
"Secrets of Lissa" is listed for sale at bookstores and through the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, and Barnes and Noble.
Studio CarryOnHarry finds the premise more interesting than the average memoir-adjacent debut: a writer naming, in the text itself, exactly where she’s chosen to depart from what happened. That’s a more candid contract with the reader than most first-person narratives offer.
From the Editor — Harry Johal
"Stories are the way we make sense of our lives, and the way we make sense of other people’s lives." — Kazuo Ishiguro
I was sitting with my coffee this morning, half-listening to the radio, when something a guest had said months ago drifted back. About how we’re all editors of our own lives, whether we admit it or not.
Then Ishiguro’s words came to mind: "Stories are the way we make sense of our lives, and the way we make sense of other people’s lives."
And that’s exactly what Jayme Byrd is doing in "Secrets of Lissa."
Forty years as a nurse—that’s forty years of listening. Of watching people carry things they couldn’t put down. She knows how a life actually feels from the inside. The weight of it. And then she sits down to tell her own story and does something most people won’t: she names the line between what happened and what she chose to make beautiful.
That’s not dishonesty. That’s honesty about how memory works, how survival works. We don’t just remember our lives—we *live* them again through the telling. And Byrd’s saying: yes, the hardest parts are real. The saddest scenes happened. But over here, I softened this. Over here, I added color. And I’m telling you exactly where I did it.
Most memoirs pretend they’re pure record. Byrd is saying something braver: I’m making sense of my life, and I’m making sense of *myself* in the process. The real story isn’t whether every detail is factual. It’s what it costs to survive, and what we owe ourselves in the retelling.
That’s the quiet revolution in this book. Not the invention. The honesty about it.
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
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Jana M. Castle has published a new children’s book, "Small Packages Big Impact," through Page Publishing, following a family led by a character named Jonathan on what the publisher describes as a mission marked by laughter, chaos and heartbreak.
According to publisher listings, the book is a 32-page paperback aimed at young readers, published in February 2026. It is also available as an eBook, with the eBook edition noted for enhanced typesetting intended to make longer reading sessions easier on the eyes.
The story follows Jonathan and his family through a series of emotional ups and downs, according to the announcement, with the narrative built around themes of surrender, faith and finding unexpected blessings in difficult circumstances. Castle has described her writing as motivated by a wish to share stories that "uplift, encourage, and draw readers closer to God," according to the release.
The author’s background is described in the announcement as rooted in Christian faith, which the publisher says shapes the book’s spiritual perspective throughout.
"Small Packages Big Impact" is available through major retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the Apple iTunes Store and Google Play, as well as through Page Publishing directly.
For Studio CarryOnHarry, the detail worth noting here is the format: a faith-themed children’s book aimed at family reading, rather than the adult inspirational fiction that dominates most self-published faith titles crossing this desk.
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
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