History Channel on This Day 2006 Calendar 365 Remarkable People, Extraordinary Events and Fa... Book

This novel sat on my shelves for years and finally got my attention. It is difficult, hard work to read by I finished it, not without a bit of relief. I find it's themes and several set pieces remain in my head and that's a plus. (It was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year somewhere in the 1990's after all) The author eschews the traditional narrative model by inserting pages of notes, history of PT Barnum, quotations, etc. It would be possible to read the entire book while by-passing these pages but I'm a plodder. I found the family story plausible and quite American. Most of the "action" occurs in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and the city's rise and decline as a manufacturing center is a theme. Everyone is flawed and scarred by their past and everyone must find their own path forward.