Gargantua the Great! The most sensational single attraction that any circus ever had! The undisputed superstar of the circus world in this century!

The name of Gargantua was a household word throughout this country, and his picture was spread around the world. Millions stood in line through rain, wind, cold, and heat to pay admission to see this ugliest (if not largest or fiercest) member of the ape family ever seen outside the jungles of Africa. And after twelve years of stardom, major wire services flashed the news of his death around the world.

Veteran newsman Gene Plowden, who covered the Gargantua story personally and who is a circus authority of renown, relates not only the surface success story but goes behind the scenes to reveal the stories of the many persons involved in the gorilla's life--owners, keepers, and many others.

Gene Plowden tells us how the young, terribly mutilated gorilla was nursed to health and domesticated by a remarkable woman; how the maturing animal helped the Ringling North brothers revive their troubled enterprise; how the carefully contrived stories of the beast's strength and ferocity created a living legend, making news copy wherever the show went.

Details about Gargantua's care and feeding, his travels, his air-conditioned quarters, and the attempt to provide him with a mate (complete with a circus "wedding") are not overlooked. Gene Plowden also comments on how little was known at the time about gorillas, and how much more we know today.

Best of all, Plowden tells the story through the eyes and in the words of those who lived and worked with him, authentically capturing the spirit of the era and the color and excitement of the circus world in the days of GARGANTUA THE GREAT.