In the 1920s, during the golden age of the big top, Mabel Stark was the superstar of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and one of America's most eccentric and unlikely celebrities. A tiny, curvaceous Kentucky blonde in a white leather bodysuit, Mabel was brazen, sexually adventurous, and, as the greatest tiger trainer in history, fearlessly courageous. That was then. This is now.
It's 1968. Mabel is turning eighty and is about to lose her job at Jungleland, a Southern California game park. Devastated by the loss of her cats, she looks back on her life, her five marriages, her regrets, and her triumphs. From her time as a mental institution–escapee; the notorious belly dancer, Little Egypt; and a crowd-roaring success with her one true love-a 550-pound Bengal tiger named Rajah-Mabel delivers an audacious confession of dark secrets, broken dreams, and escapades both comic and tragic.
"Mabel Stark developed an act so original, so daring, so brave, that it puts all the stupid human tricks on today's reality shows to shame... a captivating portrait of a woman and a way of life that no longer exist."
