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

Perhaps the most striking fact about Brock's account of twenties' and thirties' hucksterism--and, specifically, the ultimate "snake oil salesman," John R. Brinkley--is its revelation that the obsession with virility fueling the popularity of such modern-day chemical enhancers as steroids and Viagra is nothing new. As Brock makes clear, most of the fraudulent "remedies" that "flimflam men" like Brinkley promoted were hyped as cures for impotency. Johnny Heller's twangy voice resonates with the expansive openness of the Midwestern environs where the book takes place and with just the right plaintive nasality when he's mimicking Brinkley himself. Brinkley's roly-poly nemesis, Morris Fishbein, was an equally colorful figure from the turbulent era between the two World Wars. Classic Americana. J.S.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2008]