Pope brock biography

Recently I read Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock after a recommendation on reddit. I expected it to be a relatively technical book about a series of incidents that steadily regulated the field, but it’s actually a gripping biography of John R. Brinkley, arguably one of the most influential people in American history you’ve probably never heard of, and his career as a quack physician during the Depression.

Among Brinkley’s accomplishments detailed in this book include:

• Pioneering border blasters, radio stations located just over the Mexican border and broadcasting into the rest of North America (to avoid American legislation)
• Changing the paradigm of radio advertising
• Pioneering medical advice via proxy through his radio show Medical Question Box - this feels like the ancestor of today’s Mayo Clinic & other online self-service medical advice websites (both legitimate and not)
• Being a Nazi supporter
• Running for governor of Kansas as a write-in ca
  •

  Pope Brock

  
  

  Love, Secrets, and Second Chances—February’s Must-Read Books Await!

  
  

  
  

  POPE BROCK is the author of the critically acclaimed Indiana Gothic, the story of his great-grandfather’s murder in 1908. Brock has written for numerous publications, including Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, and the London Sunday Times Magazine. He lives in upstate New York with his twin daughters, Molly and Hannah.

  Log In to see more information about Pope Brock
  Log in or register now!

   

  Series

  Books:

  Charlatan, February 2008
  Hardcover
  

   

   

   

  •

  Pope Brock Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

  Interview

  Pope Brock explains what drew him to spend two years of his life writing Charlatan, a book about John Brinkley, arguably the biggest con-man in American history who accidentally changed the face of American music.

  Why did you decide to tell this story?
  
  I had never heard of John Brinkley before, but within two minutes after stumbling on his name – on museumofhoaxes.com – I was hooked. Any guy who would build the biggest radio station in the world to convince other men to get goat-testicle transplants is a pretty unusual character. He made millions of dollars at this during the Depression – even had women coming in for goat ovaries, which he plugged as a wrinkle-reducer and bust developer. When I learned he was also a pioneer in radio, in advertising, in politics, I knew what I'd be doing for the next two or three years.
  
  
  What surprised you most about Brinkley's story?
  
  I suppose his enormous impact on pop culture, which he's never gotten credit for. He's like Shoeless Joe Jackson: he's been kep