Book Summary and Reviews of The Lost Tribe of Coney Island by Claire Prentice

The Lost Tribe of Coney Island by Claire Prentice

The Lost Tribe of Coney Island

Headhunters, Luna Park, and the Man Who Pulled Off the Spectacle of the Century

by Claire Prentice

  • Published:
  • Oct 2014, 416 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The Lost Tribe of Coney Island unearths the forgotten story of the Igorrotes, a group of "headhunting, dog-eating savages" from the Philippines, who were transported to New York in 1905 to appear as "human exhibits" alongside the freaks and curiosities at Coney Island's Luna Park. Millions of fair-goers delighted in their tribal dances and rituals, near-nudity, tattoos, and stories of headhunting.

Journalist Claire Prentice, who has spent years researching the topic, brings the story to life with her fluid prose and vivid descriptions. The book boasts a colorful cast of characters, including the disgraced lieutenant turned huckster Truman K. Hunt; his Filipino interpreter, Julio Balinag; the theme park impresarios behind Luna Park, Fred Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy; and Dogmena, a beautiful girl who became a favorite with New York's social elite. The Lost Tribe of Coney Island  is a fascinating social history and a tale of adventure, culture-clash, and the American dream.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Without scholarly pretensions, Prentice has crafted an entertaining popular account likely to appeal to fans of true crime and social history." - Library Journal

This information about The Lost Tribe of Coney Island was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Claire Prentice

Claire Prentice is an award-winning journalist whose work has been published in The Washington Post, The Times of London, The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, BBC Online, Cosmopolitan, and Marie Claire.

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