Chautauqua Summer: Adventures of a Late-Twentieth-Century Vaudevillian

Had this book been written in 1973, it probably would have been considered a charming portrait of flower children. In 1993 it seems silly, populated by trivial people doing inconsequential things, reluctant to become adults. Taking its name from the New York town which did so much to foster popular education at the turn of the century, this Chautauqua, by contrast, is an itinerant vaudeville show that tours the Pacific Northwest every summer. The pseudo-circus features the Flying Karamazov Brothers, who have appeared on Broadway, but no one else of note. During Chace's stint as a high-wire performer with the show, there were the usual summer romances, temporary marriages, flat tires, missed meals, practical jokes, group rituals--all of them tedious to read about. (Mar.)