The Arts of Deception: Playing With Fraud in the Age of Barnum

Rating:
Summary: Thorough and somewhat interesting, but a laborious read
Review: "The Arts of Deception," is a focused, yet very involved study of the marketing of fraud through the 1800's that is extremely well researched by its author, James W. Cook. Though I'll admit to learning something about a rather interesting aspect of culture in the nineteenth century, I got really bogged down in a deluge of philosophizing and references to historical accounts, and thus had an extremely difficult time plowing through this book. Unless you have a keen interest in the evolution of American culture, I can't make a strong recommendation here.

Mr. Cook, an Assistant Professor of History and American Culture at the University of Michigan, divides the book into five lengthy chapters, each offering a comprehensive examination of ONE aspect of how fraud (or trickery) was marketed in the 1800's: 1) The Automaton Chess Player, 2) The Feejee Mermaid, 3) The Nondescript ("What is It?"), 4) Modern Magic, and 5) Queer Art Illusions. The only characters with whom I was familiar were Barnum, Houdini, and William Harnett, the "trompe l'oeil" painter.

The chapter about automatons was brand new information for me, and it was interesting and flowed okay, although I found it cumbersome to bounce around between the text and the notes (over one hundred). By the second and third chapters, a pattern was ingrained: good accounting by the author of some very curious expositions, but broken up by so much commentary from seemingly everyone who had anything to say or write about the spectacles during their time, that my mind just wandered all over the place. Mr. Cook went around the horn so many times describing all the conjecture and shifting viewpoints held by the viewing public and the press, that I couldn't concentrate. For me, there was an overbalanced emphasis placed on the societal impacts of, for example, Barnum's "What is It?" shows, rather than on the shows themselves. What could have been a fun compilation of "gee whiz" stories turned out to be a textbook. By the second chapter, I gave up trying to read all the notes (the book has almost 600).

My interest perked up a little in Chapter Five, which looked at "trompe l'oeil" painting, although I was rather surprised by Mr. Cook's equating this art form to yet another type of fraud. In my opinion, the "trompe l'oeil" artwork of Harnett and his contemporaries was a style of painting that sought to create the most realistic depiction of a scene, and took some extremely talented--and patient--practitioners to produce. I wouldn't categorize these artists as tricksters. However, I'm no expert, so perhaps I'm missing something.

Overall, I think this book would have been more enjoyable if it didn't take itself too seriously. If your leanings are toward the history and cultural evolution of magic and intrigue shows, you'll enjoy "The Arts of Deception." If you're looking for a lighter, perhaps more casual, introduction to the early culture of such shows, as I was, I'd recommend checking elsewhere first.

Rating:
Summary: Thorough and somewhat interesting, but a laborious read
Review: "The Arts of Deception," is a focused, yet very involved study of the marketing of fraud through the 1800's that is extremely well researched by its author, James W. Cook. Though I'll admit to learning something about a rather interesting aspect of culture in the nineteenth century, I got really bogged down in a deluge of philosophizing and references to historical accounts, and thus had an extremely difficult time plowing through this book. Unless you have a keen interest in the evolution of American culture, I can't make a strong recommendation here.

Mr. Cook, an Assistant Professor of History and American Culture at the University of Michigan, divides the book into five lengthy chapters, each offering a comprehensive examination of ONE aspect of how fraud (or trickery) was marketed in the 1800's: 1) The Automaton Chess Player, 2) The Feejee Mermaid, 3) The Nondescript ("What is It?"), 4) Modern Magic, and 5) Queer Art Illusions. The only characters with whom I was familiar were Barnum, Houdini, and William Harnett, the "trompe l'oeil" painter.

The chapter about automatons was brand new information for me, and it was interesting and flowed okay, although I found it cumbersome to bounce around between the text and the notes (over one hundred). By the second and third chapters, a pattern was ingrained: good accounting by the author of some very curious expositions, but broken up by so much commentary from seemingly everyone who had anything to say or write about the spectacles during their time, that my mind just wandered all over the place. Mr. Cook went around the horn so many times describing all the conjecture and shifting viewpoints held by the viewing public and the press, that I couldn't concentrate. For me, there was an overbalanced emphasis placed on the societal impacts of, for example, Barnum's "What is It?" shows, rather than on the shows themselves. What could have been a fun compilation of "gee whiz" stories turned out to be a textbook. By the second chapter, I gave up trying to read all the notes (the book has almost 600).

My interest perked up a little in Chapter Five, which looked at "trompe l'oeil" painting, although I was rather surprised by Mr. Cook's equating this art form to yet another type of fraud. In my opinion, the "trompe l'oeil" artwork of Harnett and his contemporaries was a style of painting that sought to create the most realistic depiction of a scene, and took some extremely talented--and patient--practitioners to produce. I wouldn't categorize these artists as tricksters. However, I'm no expert, so perhaps I'm missing something.

Overall, I think this book would have been more enjoyable if it didn't take itself too seriously. If your leanings are toward the history and cultural evolution of magic and intrigue shows, you'll enjoy "The Arts of Deception." If you're looking for a lighter, perhaps more casual, introduction to the early culture of such shows, as I was, I'd recommend checking elsewhere first.