Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women

A cult classic and a work of remarkable scholarship restored to print. Ricky Jay is one of the world's great sleight-of-hand artists. He is also a most unusual and talented scholar, specializing in the bizarre, exotic, and fantastic side of the human species. The youngest magician to have appeared on television, Jay has become well known for his astonishing stage show as well as for his cameos in such movies as Glengarry Glen Ross and, most recently, Boogie Nights. Jay's unparalleled collection of books, posters, photographs, programs, broadsides, and, most important, data about unjustifiably forgotten entertainers all over the world made this unique book possible. An investigation into the inspired world of sideshows, circuses, and singularly talented performers, Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women is history of the most unusual--and irresistible--sort.

Ricky Jay is the author of Cards as Weapons and has appeared both on television and in movies. He has worked with Joseph Papp, Francis Ford Coppola, and David Mamet. He is currently writing a book about great wagers through history.