Untamed: The Autobiography of the Circus's Greatest Animal Trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams

by Gunther Gebel-Williams

Ringling Brothers' biggest crowd please tells his story. When Ringling Brothers brought Gunther Gebel-Williams to the U.S. in 1977, Gebel-Williams helped transform their trained animal act into a super spectacular. Untamed celebrated a life of death-defying courage--in the ring as well as out. It revelas the truth about the circus' work methods, the exhausting work schedules, and the relentless rive that have made Gunther Gebel-Williams the greatest showman of the greatest show on earth. Black-and-white photographs. Upcoming ABC television special.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals

376 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1991

Reviews

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Placeholder review: Don't remember it but I gave this a 2 when I read it in 2005, clearly too young to appreciate THIS GLORIOUSLY CRACKTASTIC COVER. I was on a mission to read all the nonfiction in the animal section of the library, but I remember being dubious about this one and had put it off for a while because I'd never heard of him and he looked very...Like That. I also hadn't quite got the hang of enjoying memoirs focused on people, as opposed to strictly on pets. I think this is one I need to revisit before I can judge.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Gunther! He is exactly everything this book says! It’s a wonderful look into the most well known animal tamers circus life!

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up in a resale shop during a business trip back in 2010. I perused through it twice but did not start reading it until my Christmas vacation. The rather stiff writing and lack of creativity in the narrative style did dampen my enthusiasm. In truth, I put the book down thrice during 2011 before I picked it up again in late-2012. Mr. Williams was a brave and undaunted man who pursued his passion - to be a great circus performer. He overcame many obstacles including oppressive governments, poverty, and a lack of guidance. Still, he became the greatest animal trainer/performer in the history of the circus. The book itself needed better editing and would have been helped with more input from other animal trainers. Still, it was a decent read.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. The writing is so flat, even with such an interesting subject, it becomes tiresome to plod through. While I like to get Gunther's own words on his work, the ratio of actual information to ego-oozing self-back-patting is greatly skewed. Incidents and acts are mentioned vaguely, but nothing is ever described in detail; I feel like I could get just as much by flipping through a few Ringling programs from back in the day.