The book Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga is a history book that appeared in 2015. The author is Pamela Newkirk. Like another recent book I reviewed, King Leopold’s Ghost, it is a popular history about a very interesting historical figure. I’ve been reading about the Congo for a new book I’m writing, and Ota Benga may become a minor character in that book. So, naturally, I read his biography.
Ota Benga was an African from the Kasai River region of the Congo. He was rather short, standing about 4’11”, causing many Americans to describe him as a “pygmy.” Ota Benga came to the US in 1904, brought by a so-called missionary named Samuel Verner who had pledged to obtain pygmies for exhibit in the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.
Benga’s background in Africa is somewhat unclear. So is the method by which Verner obtained Benga to bring him to the US. Verner, over the course of his life, gave about five different accounts of each. Verner also suffered from several mental breakdowns, casting even greater doubt on his statements.
Ota Benga in the United States
Like I wrote above, Benga arrived in the US and was an exhibit in the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, which lasted for several months. There were other “exotic” people at the fair, including Ainu from Japan and Patagonians from Argentina. But audiences loved the “pygmies” most.
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By present standards, this was degrading. It was, or should have been, by the standards of 1904 as well. A few commentators said as much, but few listened. If Ota Benga’s career as a public figure had ended there, it would have been bad enough. But it didn’t.
In 1906, Benga was back in the spotlight. This time he was in New York, on display at the Bronx Zoo. For about a month, he lived in a cage with orangutans. Tens of thousands of spectators flocked to see him daily. Besides his color and short stature, Benga had teeth filed to points. In order to raise the level of entertainment and mystery, promoters claimed this as evidence of cannibalism in Benga’s home region of the Congo. Finally, an outraged group of African American ministers in New York obtained his release.
Evaluation of the Book
I’ll not spoil what happens to Ota Benga afterward or what the rest of his life was like. The story is tragic enough already. Newkirk’s book is a good effort to bring his story to life. Like good popular histories try to do, Newkirk’s weaves in short biographies of other people involved in Benga’s life. This adds color and some background to what happens to Ota Benga. It also gives a feel for life in the US in the early 20th century in terms of the culture and beliefs about race prevalent at the time.
I found the writing very readable most of the time. Newkirk was a professor of journalism when the book appeared, so that should be the case. And Benga’s story is certainly interesting, even if, by necessity, Newkirk had to extrapolate or guess at a few things due to lack of hard evidence. This is unavoidable when trying to write biography of historical figures who wrote nothing themselves. I’ll score this book with 8 points out of 10. I’m not a big fan of biography because it’s really hard to do well, but Newkirk gave a pretty good effort with this book.
To read some of my other recent book reviews, check out:
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
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