Freaks!

I just finished Hubert's Freaks: The Rare Book Dealer, the Times Square Talker, and the Lost Photos of Diane Arbus by Gregory Gibson. It was a fun and fast read, although I would grade it a B overall.
Hubert's Freaks is part biography, bouncing back and forth between the photographer Diane Arbus (who committed suicide in 1971), Bob Langmuir (a rare-book dealer who comes across what he thinks is photos taken by Diane Arbus) and Charlie Lucus (the manager of a permanent side show act in NYC called Hubert's, which is where Diane took many of her photos). The best parts of the book is when Bob finds and researches the photos - are they really by Diane Arbus? How will the Met, the estate of Diane Arbus and art galleries react? How much are they worth? However, I felt like too much of the book lingered on Bob's biography: his mental instability, his marriages, his lengthy divorce. Although I was rooting for Bob as the photo drama unfolded, I didn't find Bob to be a very sympathetic character.
As we join Bob in his quest, we learn about the emergence of photography as an art, the ups and downs of the art trade and the history of freak shows like Hubert's. Photos as smattered throughout the book, but it seems that the author could not get permission for many of Diane Arbus' prints. For that, I checked out a copy of Diane Arbus: Revelations. It is a big, beautiful book with nearly every photo mentioned in Hubert's Freaks.
Overall, for anyone interested in "weird America" and it's sideshows, photography, or the excitment of finding undiscovered treasures, this book will hit the spot.