What It’s Like to Actually Run Away With the Carnival

Who among us hasn’t daydreamed about dropping everything to go do something dramatic, like travel the world, downsize to a camper van, or try doing your hobby professionally? There’s the old saying about “running away with the circus.” That’s basically what Tessa Fontaine did for five months in 2013. Not the circus really, but the country’s last traveling carnival sideshow. They hired her because she told them she could eat fire and charm snakes. Then she had to hurry and learn to eat fire and charm snakes. Fontaine tells the story in a beautifully written memoir, “The Electric Woman.” (Segment produced by Martha Harris)