9780307339881-0307339882-Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam

ISBN-13: 9780307339881
ISBN-10: 0307339882
Edition: 1
Author: Pope Brock
Publication date: 2008
Publisher: Crown
Format: Hardcover 336 pages
FREE US shipping on ALL non-marketplace orders
Marketplace
from $2.99 USD
Buy

From $2.99

Book details

ISBN-13: 9780307339881
ISBN-10: 0307339882
Edition: 1
Author: Pope Brock
Publication date: 2008
Publisher: Crown
Format: Hardcover 336 pages

Summary

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam (ISBN-13: 9780307339881 and ISBN-10: 0307339882), written by authors Pope Brock, was published by Crown in 2008. With an overall rating of 4.2 stars, it's a notable title among other United States (Historical, Crime & Criminals, Specific Groups, United States History) books. You can easily purchase or rent Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam (Hardcover) from BooksRun, along with many other new and used United States books and textbooks. And, if you're looking to sell your copy, our current buyback offer is $0.39.

Description

In 1917, after years of selling worthless patent remedies throughout the Southeast, John R. Brinkley–America’s most brazen young con man–arrived in the tiny town of Milford, Kansas. He set up a medical practice and introduced an outlandish surgical method using goat glands to restore the fading virility of local farmers.

It was all nonsense, of course, but thousands of paying customers quickly turned “Dr.” Brinkley into America’s richest and most famous surgeon. His notoriety captured the attention of the great quackbuster Morris Fishbein, who vowed to put the country’s “most daring and dangerous” charlatan out of business.

Their cat-and-mouse game lasted throughout the 1920s and ’30s, but despite Fishbein’s efforts Brinkley prospered wildly. When he ran for governor of Kansas, he invented campaigning techniques still used in modern politics. Thumbing his nose at American regulators, he built the world’s most powerful radio transmitter just across the Rio Grande to offer sundry cures, and killed or maimed patients by the score, yet his warped genius produced innovations in broadcasting that endure to this day. By introducing country music and blues to the nation, Brinkley also became a seminal force in rock ’n’ roll. In short, he is the most creative criminal this country has ever produced.

Culminating in a decisive courtroom confrontation that pit Brinkley against his nemesis Fishbein, Charlatan is a marvelous portrait of a boundlessly audacious rogue on the loose in an America that was ripe for the bamboozling.

Rate this book Rate this book

We would LOVE it if you could help us and other readers by reviewing the book