Confessions of a Dangerous Mind [Hardcover]

Chuck Barris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1984

Suspense, excess, danger and exuberant fun come together in Chuck Barris's unlikely autobiography - the tale of a wildly flamboyant 1970s television producer of innovative game shows such as The Gong Show and The Dating Game. What most people don't know is that Barris spent close to two decades as a decorated covert assassin for the CIA, claiming to have killed over thirty people. He joined the CIA as an agent in the early 1960's. He infiltrated the Civil Rights movement, met with militant Muslims in Harlem, and was sent abroad to kill enemies of the American state, even as his game shows began to soar to ratings success. Confessions of A Dangerous Mind is a wild and improbable tale spiced with intrigue, sex , bad behaviour, and plenty of one-liners.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A weirdly compelling autobiography', Jonathan Ross, Daily Mirror .'Barris' life has been by turns insane, frightening, reckless and desparate ... his life story is nothing short of spectacular and brilliant to read', Front --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Chuck Barris is a former television executive and host of The Gong Show. He is the author of several books and is currently writing a sequel to his memoir. He lives in New York. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (May 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312162146
• ISBN-13: 978-0312162146
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,285,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Confessions is a comic masterpiece, an American classic., January 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Hardcover)

In his hilarious "unauthorised autobiography", gameshow guru Chuck Barris (The Dating Game, The Gong Show) claims to have been an agent for the CIA. Enjoyment of this comic masterpiece is by no means contigeant on the reader's believing this wildly implausible assertion. In fact, the CIA sequences are woven cleverly into an (entirely credible) account of the chaos and creative energy behind the launch of Barris's earliest gameshows. Tales of his ventures into the world of espionage are "true" in one, very broad sense, however: they reflect Barris' desperate attempts to compensate for a sense of exclusion; this sense, and his belief that the machismo world of the CIA will confer on him some kind of clubby, WASPish acceptability, explain the appearances of these bizzarre passages in what might have otherwise been a factual account of his efforts as television star and producer. The theme of exclusion links him to the great tradition of American "outsider" literature, in particular to the work of Philip Roth. Roth devotees might be shocked that anyone would compare Confessions with an acknowledged masterpiece such as Pornoy's Complaint. Confessions, certainly, is at least as funny; and this reviewer hopes that its importance, unrecognised in 1984, when it was published, will finally be established with the forthcoming release of a motion picture adaptation. It is impossible to overstate the comic brilliance of Chuck Barris' prose. His descriptions of the loons, goons and misfits who populated The Gong Show, for example, are themselves worth the price of admission. He spares no one, least of all himself; and while he lays bare his faults, and is frank about the shortcomings of many of his efforts (he is particularly critical of The Gong Show Movie), he raises a spirited defence for the most reviled form of American television, the gameshow. Reading of his efforts -- "I was just trying to keep people entertained" -- it is hard not to see him as the champion of healthy vulgarity, as the Rabelais, if you will, of the tube. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is easily the funniest book I have ever read -- and one of the most enlightening. Buy several copies, and win new friends by passing it around. Above all, pester St Martins Press into arranging an early reissue.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dating Game was just a CIA front., November 18, 1997

By 

John Coxe (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Hardcover)

This book is a fascinating biography of the working life of Chuck Barris, his development of the gameshow from afternoon space filler to pop culture and his association with the CIA. I bought and read this book many years ago (when it came out) and the impression is still with me. This man lived a more interesting life than most of us and wrote (true or false is irrelevant) a readable account of it.

4.0 out of 5 stars True or not - it is simply hilarious, October 8, 2006

By 

S. Steiman (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Paperback)

So satirical that at times even cynical. Barris indiscriminately bashes all circles of life - from women-gold diggers to Uncle Sam. Whether Barris' spy games were true or not, this book was worth the attention.