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  • Charlatan

  • America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him and the Age of Flimflam
  • Written by: Pope Brock
  • Narrated by: Johnny Heller
  • Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars (2 ratings)

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Charlatan

Written by: Pope Brock
Narrated by: Johnny Heller
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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

What the critics say

"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)

What listeners say about Charlatan

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