Join the circus

Bill Meissner ’72MFA celebrates spectacle in his latest novel

Performers and elephants in the ring at the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus

Bill Meissner ’72MFA is the author of 12 books, most recently the novel The Wonders of the Little World (2024, Stephen F. Austin University Press). The book tells the tale of Estelle Esmeralda, a fortune teller in a suffocating, small-scale carnival, who is unable to predict her own future, much less discover where her missing husband, Tony, has gone. With their daughter riding along, Estelle sets out on a road trip to search for Tony, a charismatic tightrope walker who disappeared suddenly on a quest to rectify his past.

UMass Magazine spoke to Meissner about the circus’s influence on his early life, the background behind his most recent book, and his favorite carnival attractions.

You grew up in “The Circus City” of Baraboo, Wisconsin, where you worked in the Circus World museum as a teenager. How did these experiences color the writing of the book?

In Baraboo, home of the Ringling Brothers and their first circus, I was surrounded by carnival and circus lore. Our house was just two blocks from the county fairgrounds, so as a nine- and ten-year-old, I frequented the county fair each summer, often slipping onto the grounds before the fair opened just to watch the rides being set up.

I’d see elephants walking the street outside my boyhood home

Bill Meissner standing by the Sizzler ride.

Bill Meissner standing by the Sizzler ride.
Photo courtesy of Bill Meissner

When the Circus Museum opened when I was in junior high, I bought a summer pass and went there most days to see the exhibits. As a 17-year-old, I landed a summer job in a vending booth in the museum, and I sold cotton candy, peanuts, popcorn, and sno-cones. I marveled at the daily tightrope show performed by a Mexican tightrope walker who was blindfolded and traversed a wire across the Baraboo River. His wife, Senorita Rosa, was an aerialist/rope dancer. Sometimes I’d see elephants walking the street outside my boyhood home for their daily exercise. At the time, I took it for granted, but now I look back on it a totally unique experience.

All those experiences definitely got into my blood and into my psyche, and years later, when I began writing The Wonders of the Little World, the memories enabled me to build a colorful world around my three main characters—Estelle, a fortune teller; Tony, her tightrope walker husband; and Ariel, their precocious 11-year-old daughter.

I’m still somewhat of a carnival junkie

To this day, I’m still somewhat of a carnival junkie, and I visit county fairs whenever I get a chance. The din of blaring music and the screamers on the clanking rides; the scents of caramel corn, mini-donuts, and deep-fried cheese curds; the hawkers who call out from the game booths with cheesy prizes—I love it all. My favorite fairs are the old-school ones, with vintage funhouses, games, and classic rides.

What inspired the characters in this story?

I’ve always been fascinated by fortune tellers, so I created that world around Estelle. I wanted her to have two sides, though—the mystical fortune-telling side contrasted with the practical side of her life as an everyday mother.

I’ve witnessed many tightrope walkers and was aware of the story of the Great Wallendas, a family tightrope act that experienced a great tragedy during a fall. So, it was easy for me to develop Tony “Dashing” Desdiolo, a charismatic tightrope walker who modeled himself after Karl Wallenda. A seed for his character is in one of the poems in my UMass MFA thesis entitled “A Tightrope Walker Can Never Look Down.”

Ariel, the 11-year-old girl, is a product of my imagination. For years, I’ve been a visiting writer in schools with 11-year-olds, so I tend to know their personalities and their uninhibited imaginations, which I love. I had a lot of fun writing the journal entries from Ariel’s spontaneous point of view.

The cover of The Wonders of the Little World.

What have you noticed about the evolution of circus and carnival entertainment in the years since your childhood?

Gasoline motors and engines were used to run the rides back in the day, and many of those have been replaced by electric motors powered by generators. A few more thrill rides have been added to the mix. But basically, the small-town carnivals remain the same: the Ferris Wheel and merry-go-round are still anchored on the midway, the balloon toss and break-a-plate games wait for customers, and you’ll still see the familiar concessions featuring classic fair food.

How did getting your MFA at UMass shape your work as a writer of poetry and fiction?

I learned a lot during my two years at UMass and was thankful for two fellowship awards. I worked with James Tate, Donald Junkins, and Joseph Langland on my poetry thesis, and it includes a sequence entitled “Deciding About Running Away to Join the Circus.” One of the poems included is entitled “A Tightrope Walker Can Never Look Down.” This three-page poem sequence was a tiny but significant seed for The Wonders of the Little World.

Are there any other books you love about the circus that you could recommend to our readers?

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

View of the Fireball ride from below.

View of the Fireball ride from below.
Photo courtesy of Bill Meissner

What’s your favorite circus or carnival attraction?

As a kid, I loved the Rock-o-Plane—if you pulled on a lever, it would flip the capsule upside down. The ride exists less frequently in fairs today, and my new favorite thrill rides are The Zipper, the Kamikaze, and the Fireball.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

During my summer job at the UMass Central Stores, I was assigned to look at the names of various hardware tools, equipment, and parts (such as various size nails, nuts, and bolts), and to abbreviate them in the catalogue using only a few (eight or nine?) characters. In an odd way, this was my first professional “writing” job.

Pick up a copy of The Wonders of the Little World, and get an inside look at circus life for yourself!

We’re on the lookout

Share your most intriguing nooks, niches, coordinates, or curiosities on campus or anywhere in the region. Email magazine@umass.edu and we’ll investigate!