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    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
    Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam
    Audiobook8 hours

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

    Written by Pope Brock

    Narrated by Johnny Heller

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The rise and fall of the greatest medical con man of all time.

    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 fifteen 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 became the first politician to campaign over the airwaves when he ran for governor of Kansas.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateFeb 19, 2008
    ISBN9781400176076
    Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam

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    Reviews for Charlatan

    4/5

    151 ratings25 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I enjoyed learning about the age of hucksterism and am enjoying my improved viewpoint of our medical history, classic movies with snake oil sellers are funnier, references to goats raunchier.
    • 3/5
      Moderately interesting story, decently written and entertaining. Not really a life changer but something nice to read as light non-fiction. Interesting in the juxtaposition of the AMA knew that big pharma has and was making drugs that were fake, that were hurting people etc. but chose to crush this guy because he didn't play by the rules. Also interesting is that you never get the sense that anyone wants to stop him because he is killing/harming people but only because he is loud and hurting "doctors" images.
    • 3/5
      Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock

      ★ ★ ★

      Imagine, in today's time, going into a “doctors” office. He has no credentials except the ones he bought at degree mills. Imagine he asks you for $8000 in today's money in exchange for rejuvenation – health wise, sexually, and mentally. You agree and he does the procedure – by implanting a goat gland into your ovarian section or scrotal section (depending on gender obviously). And imagine that once released he would recommend you take his special medication – what it is you don't know, he just tells you to buy it and take it. So you buy half a dozen, coughing up a couple thousand more dollars. Just to find out that the “medication” is...water. And thus is the story of one “Doctor” John R. Brinkley. And that would only be one of his “brilliant” ideas in becoming rich off the gullible in the 1920s and 1930s. In a time before the AMA made the rules and the Food and Drug Admin barely existed, it was all too common to sell what you wanted and claim it did wonderful things (and sadly is still common even with the AMA and Food and Drug Admin around). Brinkley was only one of thousands selling fake miracle in a bottle (radioactive water anyone?) but this story revolved around Brinkley and the man that would try his hardest to stop him.

      This was a very intriguing book on a part of history I know little about. Reviews have compared it to Erik Larson's writing but I won't go that far. The two stories of the huckster and the man that would catch him is muddled, not a seamless transition like Larson is so good at (in my opinion). There are A LOT of names to remember. In many cases people were mentioned once, only to be brought up 100 pages later with some significance to the story leaving me scrambling to remember who the person was to begin with. It did become more smoother as the book continued. Well researched and definitely interesting.
    • 4/5
      A fascinating and well-written book, though I wish it had been longer and/or more in depth. Though the reader did a great job, I think it might be better as a physical book in some respects, especially if the book had photos.
    • 4/5
      Very entertaining and, at times, humorous book about “Doctor” John Brinkley who made millions during the Depression era by performing operations to insert goat glands into humans. He never earned a degree from an accredited medical school, many of his operations went severely awry, and he sold expensive follow-up “medication” to his patients that consisted of water and food coloring. The author gives us the background on Brinkley, as well as Morris Fishbein, the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, whose goal became to ensure Brinkley never practiced medicine again.

      Far-reaching subject matter includes politics, broadcasting, advertising, roots of country music, deep sea fishing records, and courtroom drama. It includes stories about such notable names as Sinclair Lewis, Eugene Debs, H.L. Mencken, Father Flanagan, and the Carter family.

      The author has a knack for evoking the feel of the age he excels at storytelling. While he touches on the continuing saga of people being enticed and exploited in pursuit of health and beauty-related goals, I thought he could have gone a bit further and explored the fine line between true medical research and experimental, unconventional remedies.

      Recommended to readers of non-fiction, especially those interested in history of medical regulation or true tales of flamboyant criminals.
    • 3/5
      5624. Charlatan America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam, by Pope Brock (read 4 May 2019) This book is about "Doctor" John Brinkley who was born in 1885 and died in 1942. I remember in my youth hearing about him and the powerful radio station he had in Del Rio, Texas, or, rather, just across the border in Mexico-- It was so powerful we could hear it in Iowa. I was under 10 years old and did not know about Brinkley's fantastic behavior. I became interested in Brinkley when I began to wonder what happened to Harry Woodring, who was Secretary of War from 1936 to 1940 when FDR asked for his resignation so Stimson could be appointed Secretary of War.. I learned that in 1930 Woodring had been elected Governor of Kansas, but only because Brinkley, who was a write-in candidate, was in effect counted out because only if "John R. Brinkley" was the way his name was written were the write-ins counted for him; thus if "Doctor Brinkley" was written on the ballot it was not counted for John R. Brinkley. This resulted in Harry Woodring being elected Governor.. In 1932 Brinkley ran for Governor again but lost to Alf Landon--who the Republicans nominated for President in 1936. Anyway, the book tells of the outrageous fraud Brinkley was and how he made millions (in Depression time) by telling men he could restore their virility by inserting goat glands in their scrotum! I was amazed that so many people were taken in by the awful things Brinkley said and did, but then reflected on the hold our current President has on millions and that Brinkley had so many who fell for his quackery I had to conclude maybe was not so surprising. The book tells the story of Brinkley's successes and eventual fall but could have been much more ably researched and better written.
    • 4/5
      A raucous tale told with raucous and ribald humor.
    • 5/5
      This book is great—it’s extremely well written and Brinkley is a fascinating subject. More interesting though is the insight you gain about so many peripheral subjects including advertising, radio, political campaigning and professional organizations. It is hard when reading it now not to see the parallels with our own current political situation and I think it makes you see things a bit better from both sides. Why might people living through the depression be looking for hope somewhere and ready to bite on these scams? How can science ensure that it does not become too arcane and easily misunderstood by those with little interest or training? And, as the somewhat ominous epilogue makes you realize, how can we see clearly what is being sold to us right now?
    • 4/5
      In February, 2008, Crown will publish a book called Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, The Man Who Pursued Him, And the Age of Flimflam. I wanted to read it from the moment I saw the cover, which I swear they must have cooked up just for me, because my picking up the book was a foregone conclusion once I saw the goat.

      The huckster in question, John Romulus Brinkley, pioneered the implantation of goat naughty bits into both men and women to reinvigorate them (both generally and sexually). Morris Fishbein, head of the nascent AMA, waged a 25-year war against Brinkley to try to stop him. Brinkley was unrepentant and all but unstoppable because he was always at least a step ahead.

      When there was no mass media, being denounced by one newspaper was no big deal. Brinkley bought himself a radio station and was the first person to use the airwaves as advertising and promotion, creating in the process the first radio variety show. The show featured singers and musicians and storytellers and preachers and Brinkley himself and everything was a not-so-subtle plug for Brinkley, his clinic, and his elixirs. He had a knack for convincing the common folk that he was one of them.

      When Fishbein had him before an AMA board and very publically revoked both of Brinkley's medical licenses, Brinkley's response was a late entry into the Kansas governor's race. He proved so popular with the people that it took a last minute finagling of election laws to keep him out of office.

      While waiting to run again, he became disenchanted with the restrictions on broadcasting power for his radio station, so he convinced the Mexican government to give him free land and build him the most powerful radio station on the planet across the border from Del Rio, Texas. He used the same format, so people like Gene Autrey and The Carter Family went from regional acts to national treasures. (Long after Brinkley was no longer involved, XERA hired a DJ named Wolfman Jack.)

      The book's got a little bit of everything, including world travel, H.L. Mencken, a courtroom showdown, and Nazis. Yeah, that's right, I said Nazis.

      The tone of the book is wildly uneven, with Fishbein mostly absent and Brinkley so larger-than-life that you have to admire the chutzpah, if not the man. This makes the epilogue, where Brinkley is suddenly America's worst mass murderer a bit jarring.

      But the book is worth the read, and a great jumping off point for further reading like Border Radio by Gene Fowler and Bill Crawford.
    • 4/5
      Interesting story of a historical account of the life of a quack. I found that at times you felt sympathy for this dangerous crook. I recommend the book freely as the story would be of general interest. It also provides some insight into the variable quality of medicine at the time.
    • 4/5
      "Dr Brinkley is the foremost money-making surgeon in the world, because he had sense enough to know the weaknesses of human nature and gall enough to make a million dollars a year out of it." This quote is a summation from the last attorney to try Dr. J.R. Brinkley in a court of law.In Charlatan, Pope Brock takes us through the, frankly, amazing career of Dr. Brinkley who had a successful 20 year career spanning the 1920's and 1930's which started with the transplantation of goat testicles into humans. He started, of course, with men but then discovered that women, too, would pay handsomely for the promise of "rejuvenation". All of this without a medical degree and after loosing medical licenses that he had purchased. How did he do it?Infomercials!That's right. In the early 1900's Brinkley built an AM radio station just inside of Mexico (call letters XERA), to avoid US broadcasting standards, and reached through much of the country hyping his cure-alls from morning to night. But, he was no fool. He also broadcast "hillbilly" music, giving The Carter Family, among others, national exposure.He also eventually stopped performing surgeries. Was it the loss of lives, the threat of lawsuits, the constant pursuit of Morris Fishbein of the AMA that caused him to stop? No. It was the discovery that if he answered listeners letters through his program Medical Question Box. All the good doctor had to do was sit back, answer the letters on air and send everyone to their local pharmacists to buy drugs that had no names, only numbers. Of course, these were his own brews and mostly alcohol.Never one to sit on his laurels, Brinkley also twice ran for governor of Kansas and added evangelism to his radio programming, with himself as orator.Pope Brock has uncovered a fascinating story. And, although I sometimes found his writing style to be slightly confusing, he has told the story in a very compelling fashion with many characters and "cameos" of the days writers, politicians and musicians.This is a nonfiction book with a story that reads like fiction. And it would be quite easy to sit back and scoff at the gullibility of the, mostly, small town folk of the time until you look at current events and the number of people who make a living selling books with bogus diets or randomly calling people and actually getting money from them with threats of law suits for debts they don't even owe. When was the last time someone knocked on your door claiming to be from the cable or power company?To quote an "anonymous geezer" from the book, "I knowed he was bilking me, but...I liked him anyway."
    • 4/5
      This is a fascinating account of the life of Dr. Brinkley, a man who managed to convince the world that a goat testicle transplant could restore youth and fertility and cure a host of ills. Brinkley is a horrific and fascinating character - he was responsible for the deaths of dozens, if not hundreds of people and the financial ruin of hundreds, if not thousands more. Yet he was an indefatigable salesman and innovator. His innovations in the use of radio for advertising, and his popularization of country music, have had a lasting effect on radio ever since.Brock also tells the story of Brinkley's nemesis, Fishbein, who worked for the American Medical Association and fought for years to ruin Brinkley's name and career. Fishbein's determination is interesting, and he did finally succeed in discrediting Brinkley.Brock does a great job of describing these events with humor without demeaning or belittling his subject. This was a fascinating and entertaining read.
    • 4/5
      On March 30, 1939, "Dr" J.R. Brinkley was exposed as the most dangerous quack doctor ever to practice in the United States. His "glandular rejuvenation" therapy, along with many other operations and compounds (snake oils), wreaked havoc all over the Midwest, dooming hundreds (if not thousands) of men to a long and painful death. Pope Brock chronicles the life and times of John R. Brinkley, who starts out as a pill-pusher and ends up as one of the richest men in Texas. His sheer audacity and force of will may cause the reader, at times, to root for the con man, but the chase given by Dr. Morris Fishbein (a real doctor) while head of the AMA makes for a very intriguing saga. A quick and interesting read.
    • 5/5
      I read and laughed my way through this book with horrified fascination. The exploits of John R. Brinkley, self-labeled doctor, while amusing, induced many unfortunate people to lose their money, their health and even life itself in some cases. He used a combination of attention grabbing marketing ploys, pseudoscience and down home religion to reel in his victims and make himself rich. We may smirk to ourselves as we read about the gullible patients that lined up for goat glands and think that we could never be taken in by such absurd claims today. Not so. Though we do have stricter regulations and licensing of medical professionals now, marketers are still persuading us to purchase vast amounts of products and treatments in the pursuit of health and beauty. Most of us don't require these items and services but for the sake of vanity. The trend towards homeopathic medicine also presents a danger to the credulous consumer as many herbal remedies are at best ineffective and at worst have life threatening side effects. Desperate people will even travel to foreign countries to have obtain untested drugs and questionable operations, sometimes with devastating results. This book tells a incredible story of the past that should serve as a wake up call for us in the present. We are really not that much different from the people who trusted in clever marketing that masked bad science and outright deception.
    • 5/5
      Very entertaining book about "Doctor" John Brinkley who made millions of dollars putting goat glands into mens' scrotums to restore their "vigor" - if they didn't die of peritonitis. He did make one contribution to culture: his million watt south of the border radio station exposed people across the North American continent to country music and enriched the coffers of artists like the Original Carter Family.Cute goat on the cover too.
    • 4/5
      I heard about this book in December 2009 on NPR while driving back to Chicago from Missouri. The book reviewer was interviewing Pope Brock. As soon as I got home I ordered it from Amazon. Excellent book. My shock and disbelief in what the medical "professionals" did at the time kept me reading. Although Brock stuck to the time period and the atrocities the doctors carried out, the current day quackery from the late night infomercials was a surprising parallel. The non-medical innovations of Dr. Brinkley were interesting...his impact on campaign practices, radio, the recording industry, and the musical careers he launched. Well worth reading!
    • 4/5
      Chronicling the almost unbelievable game of cat-and-mouse between John R. Brinkley, a “doctor” who settled in Milford, Kansas and made a fortune performing sham surgeries—implanting goat testicles into men and women with the claim it would make the younger, healthier, and more virile—and Morris Fishbein, the AMA official who made it his life’s mission to bust quacks and protect the public from medical shams, Pope Brock’s Charlatan is a surprisingly delightful read. Part biography, part social history, and part interdisciplinary study, this book is chock full of little-known facts about the swingingest of times (the 1920s and 30s, to be exact) and the brilliantly devious men who unknowingly shaped American politics, advertising, and medical regulations as they sought to make a quick million.Charlatan is an immsensely enjoyable read that serves as an excellent example that narrative nonfiction can be just as engaging as fiction. And with a story like this, in which the truth is often stranger than fiction, you’ll wonder what took you so long to pick it up.Plus, who doesn’t love a book with a goat on the cover?
    • 5/5
      Pope Brock has written a terrifically good book about the gullibility of large numbers of Americans for miracle cures, as illustrated in the case of John Brinkley. Brinkley was a con man who made millions from playing primarily on the anxieties of men for whom Viagra has become the modern, medically approved solution. For Brinkley it was implanted goat testicles. In creating his empire of fraud in the 1920s and 30s, Brinkley also came up with several innovations in mass advertising and communication that we take for granted today. In Brinkley's time doctors who favored an honest, transparent, and scientific approach to medical practice could do little other than denounce him in the press. There were few if any laws against Brinkley's scams, even though they resulted in the deaths of hundreds and perhaps thousands of self-deceiving souls. I was surprised to learn that it was only in 1964 that the first doctor went to jail for malpractice. The pressure of the American Medical Association, probably in concert with several other factors, ultimately led to laws that permit the prosecution of quacks like Brinkley. This book also details he fight between the AMA and people like Brinkley--although he was the premier fraudster of his day.The author has produced a well-researched, well-put-together work. His writing style is fluid and utterly delightful. Every page has some sort of sardonic comment on the way willing subjects submitted to the massive crimes Brinkley committed. Even those who knew it was all a hoax underwent Brinkley's treatments anyway because they liked the guy so much. The reader comes away looking with fresh suspicion at today's popular medical treatments. I think the other day I tried Tea Tree Oil for something or other. Oh, well.
    • 4/5
      Pope Brock has written a well-researched and very entertaining book about Dr. J. R. Brinkley, a fraudster who made millions promoting miracle cures. The most frightening and profitable of his ventures was curing impotency and ageing by implanting goat testicles into men. The book looks at Brinkley's life, the rise of the American Medical Association, and the trials that ultimately led to Brinkley's downfall. It's written in the best traditon of telling a compelling story, and I would definitely call it a "page-turner"/The author draws a parallel to today's avalanche of TV ads for miracle diet pills and e-mails about Viagara, bringing the book to a satisfying and thought-provoking conclusion.
    • 5/5
      As a physician I have had a great interest in the appeal of "alternative medicine" including herbs, chelation, kinesiology,Reiki etc. Several recent well written and well supported books such as "Trick or Treatment" and "Natural Causes" outline the problems of these fad therapies in today's world. However, the true story "Charlatan" certainly shows that these unsupported and often fraudulent, not to say dangerous, "therapies" were as wildly popular in days past. Fortunately, the implanting of goat testicles as a cure for a fatigued sex drive has fallen by the wayside but certainly other gimmicky "therapies" continue to drain the wallets of Americans who show very little critical thinking in matters related to their health. The book is a fascinating look at Dr. J.R.Brinley a charlatan who hobnobbed with world leaders, brought country music to the masses, made millions with snake oil medicine and died a pauper. Fascinating.
    • 4/5
      I have to confess that prior to reading this book I'd never heard of Dr. Brinkley, the goat-gland doctor. If you want a book that is interesting, and tells a bizarre story, this is it. I couldn't put this one down. Brock's book focuses on one John R. Brinkley, who made a name for himself by promising to restore the lost vigor of youth to men during just after WWI and then during the Depression. His treatment was simple: remove a goat testicle, insert it into a man's scrotum and voila. He used glands to "cure" insanity, and hailed his treatment as curing everything "from emphysema to flatulence." (41) However, he was also a self-assured, arrogant quack, who caught the attention of the AMA early on, and one man, Morris Fishbein, vowed to bring him down. This book is the story of Brinkley, but it is also a look at medical and pseudo-medical practices of the time, as well as out-and-out charlatanism and quackery. It wasn't just Brinkley, although his work is the main focus here...there were clinics offering treatments such as "practical sphincterology," (65) or monkey-gland transplants, the electric fez for hair growth, and a very odd assortment of treatments that promised to change a person's life. And these practitioners got away with it, whatever it was, because of the lack of policing on the part of the government.What struck me (and was later somewhat voiced by the author) was that these sort of practices still exist. People can be wowed by the promise of electric massagers that help you lose weight while you just sit there, or by miracle diet pills or other weight-loss products on the market that you see all the time via the media. Brock also interweaves Brinkley's campaigns for governor of Kansas and how his innovations changed the face of political campaigning; he also delves into Brinkley's opening of the first high-powered radio station in Mexico that helped many a country-and-western singer get his/her start. But none of that (imho) was as interesting as the whole quackery issue. Brinkley may have been a quack, but he was a very rich quack during the Depression, when the rest of the country was suffering. This book held my interest so that I could not stop reading; Brock's writing is often humorous and witty, and he tells a great story. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who a) wants something completely different and b) anyone who is interested in the history of medical quackery. It's an awesome book.
    • 4/5
      Dr. Brinkley, the "goat gland" doctor and Dr. Feinstein, the man who brought him to his downfall are featured in this look into a fascinating time in the history of Medicine and popular opinion. It is shocking as a modern "enlightned" reader to learn about the outlandish treatments Dr. Brinkley employed on his patients, but the author does a good job of setting them in the context of medicine/science at that time. Many things we take for granted like elecricity had just been invented and if science could lead to such magical discoveries, why not to cures that would rejuvinate and extend people's lives? The book goes chronolically through Brinkley's rise and fall with many colorful stories along the way. Those interested in history (especially Kansas history) or just shocking medical stories should pick this one up.
    • 4/5
      When people bitch about the pervasiveness of misleading advertising - particularly misleading advertising for medical or weight-reduction miracle products - I want to say "You kids ain't seen nuthin'."
    • 3/5
      John Brinkley grew up poor in rural North Carolina but attended Rush Medical College in Chicago, got his start touring as a medicine man hawking miracle tonics and became famous for transplanting goat testicles into impotent men. This was his claim to fame and the source of his fortune. He wasn’t the first American huckster, but he was one of the first to realize the power of advertising and PR. Brinkley built his own radio station in 1923, hustling his cures for impotence, sterility, old age and just about everything else. He bought mailing lists and sent out letters to men all over the country offering them cures. The US pulled his license for a radio station, so he moved it to Mexico and it was the most far reaching station of the day. You can actually thank Brinkley for moving country music into the mainstream. He broadcast 24/7, often talking for hours himself about the powers of his cures. However, he had a nemesis, a real doctor, Dr. Morris Fishbein, the buoyant, compulsively curious editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association whose famous friends included Sinclair Lewis, Clarence Darrow and H.L. Mencken. Fishbein took aim at Brinkley in JAMA, lay publications and pamphlets distributed by the thousands. He called him a quack and a murderer and danger to the human race. Even after the Kansas State Medical Board yanked his medical license in 1930, Brinkley ran twice for governor of Kansas and almost won. Then he moved to Texas and built a bigger and better hospital. Finally, Brinkley sued Fishbein for libel and lost in a spectacular showdown. The fact that this man operated on several thousand people and murdered hundreds of them and not only got away with it for 20 years, but flourished, is a truly frightening tale. The book is overwritten and not always focused, sometimes wandering off on tangents. But it makes for some hilarious reading.
    • 4/5
      Charlatan is a fast-moving historical account of a little known businessman operating primarily in the 1920's and 1930's. Improbably, the man, John Brinkley, was the first to bring selling snake-oil to the prime-time. Charging incredible fees to revive the failing sex lives of men by implanting animal glands, Brinkley became a millionaire many times over. In the process, he revolutionized everything from radio advertising to product merchandising and bundling to target marketing. He was the first to do targeted, repeat mailings customized to the prospect. And of course his products and surgical maneuvers didn't work, or at least caused much more harm than good. Which resulted in a slew of critics including the fledgling American Medical Association. It's up and coming advocate and eventual president was on a countrywide tour to bring down Brinkley, reminiscent of the partisan infighting between our Bill and Hillary Clinton of today vs. the Right Wing Republicans. There's rarely a dull moment in the book; it almost reads as well as Barbarians at the Gate. However, caveat emptor, some of the subject matter--due to Brinkley's offerings--is necessarily raunchy and in my mind too graphic. The prose is inconsistent at times and is more likely to become ragged than slow down. On the positive side, it has all the ingredients: a rakish rich Frenchman, media coverage, a trial, an encounter on an oceanliner, and famous authors like Steinbeck and HL Mencken become involved with the characters. It's an effervescent book that's particularly telling in an age where consumers are increasingly turning to homeopathic and other 'cures' while the television is droning on with drug ads that federal regulations require list every side effect...a downstream result in part of John Brinkley's panache and ultimate con.