
Bunk
The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News
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Narrated by:
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Mirron Willis
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By:
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Kevin Young
Bunk traces the history of the hoax as a peculiarly American phenomenon, examining what motivates hucksters and makes the rest of us so gullible. Disturbingly, Young finds that fakery is woven from stereotype and suspicion, race being the most insidious American hoax of all. He chronicles how 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.
Bunk then turns to 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 Grey Owl and Nasdijj to the deadly imposture of Clark Rockefeller, from the made-up memoirs of James Frey to the identity theft of Rachel Dolezal. In this brilliant and timely work, Young 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.
©2017 Kevin Young (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...




















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The author blames everything on racism...........
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wordy
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Horrible Narration
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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
This was a pretty good book... the stories are hit or miss. I enjoyed some immensely... others not as much.Which character – as performed by Mirron Willis – was your favorite?
Characters were all done well... none in particular stand out. Competent narrator.stories are fairly interesting
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Willis strains to pronounce “memoir” as if he were French- ironically while discussing memoirs of invented identities. I could forgive his mispronunciation of “Agassiz” and “Daguerreotype” were it not for his ridiculous insistence on a French-y sounding “memoir”.
Long vowels are used incorrectly. (ie; “thee” before consonants, stressed “ā” mid-sentence)
Rhythm and intonation are irregular, and sound like those of an inexperienced reader.
Overall, the narration sounds jilted and unnatural. It made a good book almost unbearable to listen to.
Mirron Willis is the worst narrator I’ve ever listened to
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Great, interesting stories which give an interesting twist on Kurt Andersen's Fantasyland, not in that it gives a different perspective, but an in-depth analysis of the public fraud for fraud's sake rather than the deliberate deception and acceptance thereof.
Interesting instances and interpretations
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However, and I truly can't tell if it's the narrator (who is awful) or the writing - but I'm finding it impossible to follow or stay focused when listening.
If you're interested in this subject by all means READ the book.
Interesting subject awful narration
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A great view of history, unveiling the world of hoaxes to me. The book seems to be well-researched, I may find the lack of knowledge in politics is noticeable. And the emphasis on political bias, I feel that it had no relevances to the book I am happy I read but think some views ruin the story
Political bias @ the end, over took everything else sad I liked most of it 😔
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The content is interesting. I knew about many of the hoaxes Young examines in the book, but had never made the connections he makes here - that many hoaxes revolve around race or bigotry and stereotypes. Some hoaxes have obvious victims, but others are less obvious until examined in the lens of the harmful negative stereotypes hoaxes often push on society.
Interesting Content, Difficult Narration
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Narration is completely ridiculous
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