This book collects the articles that Alessandro Baricco has published in various journalistic media in the last twenty years. The title refers to the famous businessman PT Barnum, creator of the show based on "geeks" phenomena, since Baricco approaches contemporary culture as if it were a circus where various tracks occur in a kaleidoscopic way, where they have a place from the manifestations of popular culture even those considered as high culture. This includes sports, television, literature, cinema, theater, photography, classical music, but also more serious aspects such as controversies about subsidies (or not) to the world of culture or the attack on the World Trade Center.