Charlatan

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

By: Pope Brock

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

This is the enormously entertaining story of how a fraudulent surgeon made a fortune by inserting goats' testes into impotent American men. "Doctor" John Brinkley became a world renowned authority on sexual rejuvenation in the 1920s, with famous politicians and even royalty asking for his services. His nemesis was Dr. Morris Fishbein, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, but it took him 15 years to destroy Brinkley in a dramatic courtroom showdown.

In the meantime, despite mounting evidence that his quack treatments killed many patients, Brinkley became a millionaire, and his pioneering use of radio not only kick-started country music as a national force in America but also invented the whole concept of radio advertising. He also became the first politician to campaign over the airwaves when he ran for governor of Kansas.

©2008 Pope Brock (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Told with uproarious brio...heavenly...A book so lively that its wild stories are virtually wall to wall." ( The New York Times)
"Hugely amusing [but also] dark and cautionary, a reminder of the high price of gullibility and ignorance." ( Washington Post Book World)
"If Hollywood hasn't already optioned Pope Brock's Charlatan....what's keeping it?" ( Newsweek)

Fascinating

This book is funny and sad, but most of all just mind-boggling. It proves in spades the observation (attributed to P.T. Barnum) that "There's a sucker born every minute." The only reason I didn't give it five stars is the mediocre narration, which included some startling mispronunciations. My favorite was "precis" pronounced PREE-sis.

Got Your Goat?

Pope Brock in his entertaining and informative book, "Charlatan," tells the story of John Brnkley who became a medicine man early in the last century. He became famous for transplanting goat testicles into impotent men. That is not the entire story, however.

It seems America has always been interested in circus side shows, quick cures, and hucksters in general. Today we carry on the tradition in reality shows, The Learning Channel programs on the odities of humanity and other entertainments. John Brinkley capitalized on that tradition.

Most interesting to me was the discussion of Brinkley's move into radio and how he turned it into a money machine. As a boy, I remember his station broadcasting (along with XEG - DelRio) the Carter Family, the Light Crust Dough Boys, and so forth. We could travel across the country at night and hear the DJs peddle medicine, music, and autographed pictures of Christ. It was a hoot at the time for sure.

The book takes the listener back to a simpler (?) time where anything was possible and we all believed. I did not give it four stars because it wanders in places and is a little over written in spots. Otherwise, "Charlatan" is an interesting change of pace. The reading is excellent.

Highly entertaining history

The book and the narration were both great. This is the kind of well-researched book that changes the way you view the recent past and present. Brinkley wasn't just an evolution of the snake oil salesman, he had an important role in the rise of the modern A.M.A., medical marketing, and even country music.

Johnny Heller's narration was brisk, old-timey when appropriate, and you could tell he enjoyed the book. Yes, he mispronounced Gila monster but to deduct stars for one or two mispronounced words is pedantry.

Strange Science Don't Wanna Miss!

Excellent telling of the bizarre story of Doc Brinkley. Any fan of Old Weird America should not miss this...and observers of the current day might find there's nothin my new under the sun! Heller's perfect for this reading and Brock is perfect.

nix the narrator

Fascinating subject, but the narrator was amateurish beyond belief. He did not prepare by checking pronunciation of words. "Precis" he pronounced pre-sis. He did not realize that Gila monster is from the Spanish so it is "Hila" not a g sound. He called Pavia, Italy, PA' via when it is Pa- VI'-A. Kudos to the author; nix the narrator.

Fascinating!

I selected this book because of the sheer quirkiness of the description. However, once start, I couldn't stop listening. It is a fascinating look into a part of American history that I knew almost nothing about (but after finishing the book am amazed that I didn't).

Not as interesting as I had hoped.

I was on a tear after listening to two great books on turn-of-the-century fraudsters (Empire of Deception and The Murderous Dr. Cream). So, I was hopeful this book would be just as good. But it didn’t hold me, and I abandoned the story about 1/3 of the way. Why? A number of reasons:

First, unlike the other two books, the narration was just not great. It was a bit harder to understand. The pace was odd (too fast?), sentences and words seemed to run together, and I often found myself trying to figure out what I had heard. With an audible book, you don’t really know if the that’s the narrator at fault or the writing.

Second, the story just was not that compelling. Interesting, yes. But from the beginning it was just sad example after sad example of gullible men and their fixation on a perceived lack of libido that drove them to this crazy doctor who was more than happy to take their money for seriously questionable results.

Maybe it would have gotten better if I had stuck with it. But I was also holding it to a high standard having just finished the two books mentioned earlier. So despite my high expectations, I had to let this one go.

incredible story

The story is amazing, the narration not so much. The author has done such a good job that it's worth overlooking the mispronounced words and ridiculous character voices.

Dr. Brinkley from Del Rio

I first heard of "Dr. Brinkley from Del Rio" in a routine by the late country comedian Jerry Clower. Such was Brinkley's influence on country music and broadcasting.

Pope Brock does a wonderful job in telling how Brinkley achieved that fame (or infamy, depending on your point of view) and the relentless attacks by the A.M.A. as a result.

This 5-star book gets a 4 because, unfortunately, Johnny Heller's performance is a little too monotonic and not paced right.

Highly recommended for history, music, and political afficionados.

Illuminates a period in America, lively narration

Excellent book about a historical misfit. The writing is top-notch, and the writer incidentally manages to provide a subtle and illuminating depiction of America at the turn of the century.

Excellent narration-- the writer seems to be plucked right out of the 1910s with surprising inflections and all.