Disco Fury. Wrathchild. Bam-Bam Bambi. Ladies Choice. Backyard Billy. Cheerleader Melissa. Backwoods Militia. Gorgeous Michelle Starr. Welcome to the world of minor-league professional wrestling.
For the past two decades, wrestling has enjoyed a huge following that has grown from cult status to one of the entertainment world's most lucrative industries, over the years creating mega-stars out of wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Chynna, and The Rock. But for every WWF superstar there are countless wanna-be's: pretenders to wrestling's various thrones who hurl, pounce, pin down, and act out in community halls and high school gymnasiums across North America, paying their dues while counting the days before they get the call to the big leagues.
One Ring Circus pays homage to the wrestling life: the sound and the fury heard amid the backdrop of household lightbulbs, screaming sound systems, and near-rabid fans who are often as colourful and outrageous as the wrestlers they clamour for. Author and photographer Brian Howell spent three years following the wrestling circuit, and his book of images and narratives perfectly captures the visceral energy of a remarkable, near-clandestine community whose artful and out-there theatrics--alive and well somewhere between here and Palookaville--is nothing short of inspirational.
Includes more than 100 black and white photographs.

Brian Howell studied photography at Ryerson Polytechnical University in Toronto. Between freelance gigs, he works on various documentary projects. His work has been exhibited extensively in Canada, the US and recently in Italy, and has appeared in The Globe and Mail, the National Post, Saturday Night, and Geist. He lives in Delta, BC, Canada.

Brian Howell's profile page

Stephen Osborne was born in Pangnirtung in 1947. In 2004 he was a recipient of the CBC Literary Award, the Vancouver Arts Award for Writing and Publishing, and the National Magazine Foundation Special Achievement Award. He won the first Event Creative Non-fiction Prize, and is an award-winning columnist for Geist magazine, where many of the pieces in Ice & Fire got their start. He is the founder of Arsenal Pulp Press and editor and founder of Geist magazine. His work has appeared in numerous periodicals, and the title story in his collection was translated into Inuktitut and appeared in Inuktitut magazine.

Stephen Osborne's profile page

. . . grotesquely comic, occasionally disturbing, and yet strangely respectful of its subjects.
-The Province

The Province

. . .a thought-provoking portrayal of an independent wrestling scene. . .
-The Now Newspaper

NOW

. . . strip[s] away all of that pomp that wrestling has become, looking further behind the mask. . .
-Cosmik Debris

Cosmik Debris

Howell captures the action from start to finish in this excellent work of photojournalism.
-Calgary Herald

Calgary Herald

Howell's striking pictures and personal essays make Circus a must for fans of pro wrestling's lower echelon.
-Monday Magazine

Monday Magazine

Howell brilliantly captures the essence of wrestling.
-Maclean's

Maclean's

One Ring Circus is the first title in Arsenal's look-at-us-and-the-world Parallax imprint. . .
-Vancouver Sun

Vamcouver Sun

Brian Howell has captured the drama that exists on the canvas and outside it. . . [this is] an art book as much as a collection of thoughtful mini essays on humanity and fame.
-Georgia Straight

Georgia Straight

Vancouver photojournalist Brian Howell captures the freak show in and beyond the ring with eyes-wide respect. . .
-Toronto Star

Toronto Star