The rise and fall of the greatest medical con man of all time.
This is the enormously entertaining story of how a fraudulent surgeon made a fortune by inserting goats' testes into impotent American men. "Doctor" John Brinkley became a world renowned authority on sexual rejuvenation in the 1920s, with famous politicians and even royalty asking for his services. His nemesis was Dr. Morris Fishbein, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, but it took him fifteen years to destroy Brinkley in a dramatic courtroom showdown. In the meantime, despite mounting evidence that his quack treatments killed many patients, Brinkley became a millionaire, and his pioneering use of radio not only kick-started country music as a national force in America but also invented the whole concept of radio advertising. He became the first politician to campaign over the airwaves when he ran for governor of Kansas.
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. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
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