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Bunk : the rise of hoaxes, humbug, plagiarists, phonies, post-facts, and fake news / Kevin Young.

by Young, Kevin, 1970-

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Graywolf Press, 2017.

Hoaxes -- History.

Deception -- History.

9781555977917 (hc.)

560 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 509-533) and index.

"The history of the hoax as a peculiarly American phenomenon. P.T. Barnum came to fame by displaying figures like Joice Heth, a black woman whom he pretended was the 161-year-old nursemaid to George Washington, and 'What Is It?', an African American man Barnum professed was a newly discovered missing link in evolution. The hoaxing of history and the ways that forgers, plagiarists, and journalistic fakers invent backstories and falsehoods to sell us lies about themselves and about the world in our own time, from pretend Native Americans like Nasdijj to the deadly imposture of Clark Rockefeller, from the made-up memoirs of James Frey to the identity theft of Rachel Dolezal. This book asks what it means to live in a post-factual world of 'truthiness' where everything is up for interpretation and everyone is subject to a pervasive cynicism that damages our ideas of reality, fact, and art. Kevin Young is the author of the nonfiction book, The Grey Album, and eleven books of poetry, including Blue Laws."--Provided by publisher.

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