Join the circus
Bill Meissner ’72MFA celebrates spectacle in his latest novel
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
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.
Pick up a copy of The Wonders of the Little World, and get an inside look at circus life for yourself!
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