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Purchase the book HERE at a discount
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Hard Cover: list price $25.95
discounted price $24.95 including FREE shipping and handling
(ISBN: 978-1-4817-3191-1 )
9 x 6 x 0.6, 216 pages
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Paperback: list price $19.95
discounted price $18.95 including FREE shipping and handling
(ISBN: 978-1-4817-3190-4)
8.9 x 6 x 0.6, 216 pages
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from the book jacket:
Never Quote the Weather to a Sea Lion (and other uncommon tales from the founder of the Big Apple Circus) is a celebration of Paul Binder's life in and around the circus. Drawing on thirty-five years with the show he created, the Big Apple Circus' founder and founding Artistic Director invites us inside the fence every kid peers through for an intimate look at the uncommon life of circus artists, their animal partners, and the roustabouts who spend their days in a world that is both close-knit and international, highminded and low comedy, death-defying and ludicrous.
Never Quote the Weather to a Sea Lion (and other uncommon tales from the founder of the Big Apple Circus) balances the weird and the workaday, the curious and the commonplace, the exhilaration and the exhaustion of life in the circus, with simple portrayals of ordinary people going about the business of achieving the extraordinary.
REVIEWS
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" Binder's proves to be a skillful storyteller... His books is a charming, breezy, sophisticated, funny, world-wise (but not weary) big top travelogue by someone who overcame formidable challenges to put the Big Apple circus on the entertainment map.... His memoir is a triumh of storytelling, directed by a masterful ringmaster and author. You'll laugh in all the right places."
 Mort Gamble in White Tops > read more
" ...these stories make it easy to see why Binder is a beloved, respected figure in the world of the circus.
A thoroughly amusing collection that takes readers beyond the big top. "
- Kirkus Review > read more
" A raconteur and showman, Binder tells
his stories economically, with comedic timing honed over years of juggling “balls, clubs,
Leonard the rubber chicken, a frying pan, even our hats and a shoe.
... Binder more than holds his own in their rarified company, with a memoir sure to appeal
to children of all ages. "
- Blue Ink Review > read more
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" …the chapters are populated by a veritable "who's who" of great circus entertainers in the circus world of the late twentieth century. ... Recommended! "
- Circus Report > read more
" …the book is an amicable glimpse of (Paul Binder's) life in the world of entertainment, a life very fully lived and very fulfilling. … a sparkling and charming memoir."
Don Stacey in King Pole > read more
" The anecdotal approach allows Binder to introduce readers to the concerns of circus life they might not have considered, like how trailers are arranged, how water and plumbing work in a traveling circus, or how circus artists tailor their acts to the skills of their fellow performers. Some of the stories are very funny—such as the time Binder accidentally involved Robert De Niro in a live act—while others turn quite serious—like when Chinese performers touring with Big Apple defected during the Tienanmen Square protests."
- Clarion Review > read more
" We could not more enthusiastically recommend this tremendous autobiographical work and hats off to Paul Binder! Our panel raves: Paul Binder is a legend in the world of all things circus! "
- Whom You Know > read more
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Advance Praise for Paul Binder's Never Quote the Weather to a Sea Lion
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"Paul Binder is the ringmaster of his own life, directing himself through this hugely entertaining highwire act of a book. It's a real circus of an extraordinary individual's life and times."
- Tommy Tune, Broadway star, director & choreographer
"From the streets of New York to the streets of Paris and back, Paul Binder recounts his incredible journey. From street performer to Ringmaster of the circus he helped create, Paul tells his story with wit, irony, and insight. If you have ever thought of 'running away and joining the circus', read this book first."
- Christopher Meloni, star of Law and Order: SVU
"All the ingredients of a life fully lived! Take it with you! Savour it!"
- Linda Lavin, Broadway Tony Award-winning actress
"I couldn't put this book down. It is a charming memoir by a man who spent his life doing just what he wanted to do, entertain others."
- John C. Whitehead, banker, former Chairman of Federal
Reserve Bank of NY, noted philanthropist
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"I've had the pleasure of appearing both as a clown in the ring at the Big Apple Circus, and as the pediatric clown 'Dr. Ditzy' making hospital rounds for their Clown Care Unit. The story of Paul Binder's journey from Brooklyn to Beijing (and back) is as surprising and colorful as the Big Apple Circus he founded."
- Meredith Vieira, former co-host NBC Today; Current host‚
So You Want to be a Millionaire
"I love the Big Apple Circus and I love this book! what an incredible account of Paul's ability to juggle his way into the hearts of so many in New York and beyond!"
- David Rockwell, premier architect and Tony-nominated
Broadway set designer
"I've watched and admired Paul Binder for years. Now he gives us a ringside seat into his fascinating life. He entertains, inspires, and motivates! just as he has for generations. Everyone who thinks their life is a circus ought to read this and see how to live and learn."
- Jim Nantz, broadcaster, CBS Sports
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PAUL's BOOK PICKS
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 The Circus is Coming
by Hilary Knight
afterword by Paul Binder
(Golden Books)
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 Big Apple Circus:
25 Years
Edited by Dominique Jando
(Odyssey Publications)
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 Big Apple Circus
by Peter Angelo Simon
(Penguin Books)
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 Night After Night
by Diana Starr Cooper
(Island Press)
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 The Magic Ring
by Hana Machotka
introduction by Paul Binder
(William Morrow & Co.)
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 Water for Elephants: a Novel
by Sara Gruen
(Algonquin Books)
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 Joseph Campbell - The Hero's Journey: A Biographical Portrait
Edited by Phil Cousineau
(New World Library)
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 The Hero with a Thousand Faces
by Joseph Campbell
(New World Library)
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 The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder
by Henry Miller
(New Directions Publishing)
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 Jean-Paul: à la recherche
du rire
introduction by Paul Binder
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