What a fascinating book. Charlatan tells about John Brinkley, the king of flim-flam and junk 
medicine. His claim to fame was the use of goat testicles to cure all manner of ailments: impotency, prostate problems, decreased vigor due to age and, even, gray hair. He plied his trade (I almost said he practiced medicine, but that would be wrong) in the 20's and 30's. You would not believe what people would pay during the depression to have him slice them open to drop in slices of goat.
medicine. His claim to fame was the use of goat testicles to cure all manner of ailments: impotency, prostate problems, decreased vigor due to age and, even, gray hair. He plied his trade (I almost said he practiced medicine, but that would be wrong) in the 20's and 30's. You would not believe what people would pay during the depression to have him slice them open to drop in slices of goat. The story is also about the man who pursued him and tried to put him out of business, Morris Fishbein. Brinkley was an amazing man. Sure he was disreputable. He was also like the energizer bunny. No matter what Fishbein did, he perservered. He used new found marketing techniques and newly discovered radio to boost his fleecing ability. Silver tongued and wily. A good combination for the one who possesses it, not so good for the poor guy on the table.
The author wrote at the end about how those people were gullible, but we shouldn't read this and feel so superior. We have more safe-guards these days to protect us against our lesser natures, but we can still get caught by a late night flim-flam man in an infomercial. 
No comments:
Post a Comment