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Charlatan
Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam | Pope Brock
8 posts | 13 read | 23 to read
“An extraordinary saga of the most dangerous quack of all time...entrancing” –USA Today In 1917, John R. Brinkley–America’s most brazen con man–introduced an outlandish surgical method for restoring fading male virility. It was all nonsense, but thousands of eager customers quickly made “Dr.” Brinkley one of America’s richest men–and a national celebrity. The great quack buster Morris Fishbein vowed to put the country’s “most daring and dangerous” charlatan out of business, yet each effort seemed only to spur Brinkley to new heights of ingenuity, and the worlds of advertising, broadcasting, and politics soon proved to be equally fertile grounds for his potent brand of flimflam. Culminating in a decisive courtroom confrontation, Charlatan is a marvelous portrait of a boundlessly audacious rogue on the loose in an America ripe for the bamboozling.
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JoeMo
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I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. I will provide no description and no reason for wanting to read it. I just do. Some will be old, and some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!

#ABookaDay2023

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JessFerg
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Basket/shelf, human/goat it's all the same. #shelfie #riotgram #dayoneondaynine

1 like1 stack add
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M-D
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Thought I would read this and see if this person is America's most dangerous huckster. Or see if it is someone different, say a certain someone with orange hair.

BekahB I just heard about this guy in an episode from the Reply All podcast. Now I want to read this book! 7y
36 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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Ericmanciniwriter
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While I'm talking about podcasts: a recent episode of Reply All sent me running to the library in search of this gem. It has everything you want in a nonfiction book: plot, intrigue, unforgettable characters, goat testicles (seriously...). And it describes a charlatan using a new communication technology to steamroll his opponents, which in no way relates to any current events. Highly recommend this book so far.

saresmoore I'm convinced! 7y
49 likes8 stack adds1 comment
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M-D
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Just a little payday shopping at half price books with @Kat_Reads all this plus one 📚 for Kat, for under $40.

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WanderingBookaneer
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1.99 on Kindle if anyone else is interested.

Bibliogeekery Love some good flimflam! 8y
31 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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Whitneyrwaller
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#FunFridayPhotoDay I love to read about witches, Sharks, Native Americans, micro histories, diseases, westerns, and genetics! @Liberty

Reagan Have you read Devil's Teeth? An excellent book about great white sharks at the Farallon islands. 8y
Whitneyrwaller No but it sounds great! Thanks for the rec! 8y
5 likes2 comments
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Peterdamien
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Pickpick

Organizing nonfic shelves, which makes this a good time to suggest you read CHARLATAN. One of the funniest, most brilliant nonfiction stories. I adored it. Read if you haven't.

Liberty He is one of the nicest, most humble authors you'll ever meet. 8y
Peterdamien @Liberty I'm always relieved when authors I love turn out to be nice people, too 8y
11 likes2 stack adds2 comments