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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Boese, the "curator" of www.museumofhoaxes.com, here collects some of the more fascinating hoaxes from medieval times to the dot-com era. After an initial "gullibility test," designed to show how hard it can be to detect actual hoaxes, Boese organizes his entries chronologically, arguing that hoaxing styles and subjects reflect an era's overall mood. Thus, in pre-modern times, the "concept of truth" was treated "allegorically and spiritually," so hoaxes (such as Sir John Mandeville's fantastical beasts) were not as scientifically involved as our modern frauds (Rorvik's 1978 cloning of a man or the 1999 Piltdown Chicken). Happily, Boese minimizes his theorizing, letting readers just have fun browsing through a few centuries of human trickery. While most of these hoaxes are entertaining (England's Mary Toft, who in 1726 "began to give birth to rabbits" or the South Seas fatu-liva bird that laid square eggs "which remarkably resembled dice"), a handful are disturbing (the 1987 Tawana Brawley case, involving an unsubstantiated act of racial hatred) or even deadly (e.g., the case of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, which was used to justify anti-Semitism). While short accounts of a variety of hoaxes won't satisfy aficionados, the general public may find it useful to know how some familiar hoaxes e.g., the Loch Ness monster were unmasked, and Boese's "suggested reading" list will help intrigued readers dig deeper. Photos and illus.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Times may change, and conventional wisdom may evolve and mature, but one thing people never seem to grow out of is the desire to put one over on unsuspecting victims. Boese's Museum of Hoaxes is an amusing catalog of tricks, pranks, publicity stunts, and outright scams that people have played on each other over the years. From fossils that contradicted accepted science, to the woman who gave birth to rabbits (guess how that trick worked), to newspaper reports of life on the moon, Boese describes each trick's appearance, how the perpetrators did it, and its effect on the general public. The book is organized by time period; each chapter begins with an introduction that puts the hoaxes into context, explaining what was believed possible at the time--a helpful inclusion, since many will seem like obvious frauds to modern readers. Whether it is picked for cover-to-cover reading or occasional browsing, readers are sure to find many laughs. Gavin Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
Boese, the "curator" of www.museumofhoaxes.com, here collects some of the more fascinating hoaxes from medieval times to the dot-com era. After an initial "gullibility test," designed to show how hard it can be to detect actual hoaxes, Boese organizes his entries chronologically, arguing that hoaxing styles and subjects reflect an era's overall mood. Thus, in pre-modern times, the "concept of truth" was treated "allegorically and spiritually," so hoaxes (such as Sir John Mandeville's fantastical beasts) were not as scientifically involved as our modern frauds (Rorvik's 1978 cloning of a man or the 1999 Piltdown Chicken). Happily, Boese minimizes his theorizing, letting readers just have fun browsing through a few centuries of human trickery. While most of these hoaxes are entertaining (England's Mary Toft, who in 1726 "began to give birth to rabbits" or the South Seas fatu-liva bird that laid square eggs "which remarkably resembled dice"), a handful are disturbing (the 1987 Tawana Brawley case, involving an unsubstantiated act of racial hatred) or even deadly (e.g., the case of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, which was used to justify anti-Semitism). While short accounts of a variety of hoaxes won't satisfy aficionados, the general public may find it useful to know how some familiar hoaxes e.g., the Loch Ness monster were unmasked, and Boese's "suggested reading" list will help intrigued readers dig deeper. Photos and illus.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Times may change, and conventional wisdom may evolve and mature, but one thing people never seem to grow out of is the desire to put one over on unsuspecting victims. Boese's Museum of Hoaxes is an amusing catalog of tricks, pranks, publicity stunts, and outright scams that people have played on each other over the years. From fossils that contradicted accepted science, to the woman who gave birth to rabbits (guess how that trick worked), to newspaper reports of life on the moon, Boese describes each trick's appearance, how the perpetrators did it, and its effect on the general public. The book is organized by time period; each chapter begins with an introduction that puts the hoaxes into context, explaining what was believed possible at the time--a helpful inclusion, since many will seem like obvious frauds to modern readers. Whether it is picked for cover-to-cover reading or occasional browsing, readers are sure to find many laughs. Gavin Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
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