The Museum of Hoaxes: A History of Outrageous Pranks and Deceptions

So are you one of those many people, like I was, who believed the old rumor about subliminal advertising? You know, the one where a group of researchers added a few clever lines like "Hungry? Candy and Popcorn at the Concession" to be flashed during a movie so quickly the conscious mind missed it but the subconscious caught it and the concession stand sold 50% more candy and popcorn. I believed it quite completely for many years, until Alex Boese, our esteemed curator for this Museum of Hoaxes, informed me it was complete hooey. Turns out a researcher did indeed claim to do this and it caused quite a stir 40 years ago, but when scientific colleagues pressed him to reproduce this effect in a more controlled setting, he could not. And, to this day, the receipt of subliminal messages remains unproven. Interesting stuff, isn't it? You'll be surprised at all the things you thought you knew. Its well written and a page turner, in fact, I tore through this book in less than a day, I simply could not put it down, much to the annoyance of my pretty wife.

Curator and author Alex Boese has the wide-eyed passion for discovering the curiosities in life and the scientific skepticism for finding the truth. Amazing, unusual tales from supermarket tabloids, television, and comic books thrilled you, as a naïve kid. You lacked experience in life and failed to recognize the motives of others. As you grew wiser, you learned to hunt for the misinformation that separates what is real and what is not real, especially when you became a fraud examiner. The thrill and the hunt are well preserved and on exhibit in The Museum of Hoaxes. Have you ever been fooled on April 1st? Do you know the name of the first female Pope? Did you ever hear a jackalope sing or a carrot whistle? Do you believe everything you read? Take the clever Gullibility Test before you start the museum tour.Mankind has been deceived for centuries. The museum displays sensational hoaxes chronologically to offer an entertaining history of lies even your kids will like. Curator Boese explains how outrageous hoaxes attract attention and shape public opinions about democracy, religion, science, and business.What you already know about many topics may not be the truth. Imaginative hoaxes involved Marco Polo, Benjamin Franklin, men on the moon, and Microsoft. Even Cassie Chadwick and Charles Ponzi, two "Frankensteins of Fraud," are immortalized in the museum. Find out how penny papers and Web sites caused financial disasters.After you devour the book, explore the museum's Web site at ... . New exhibits are added daily. Enjoy the BBC broadcast of Swiss workers harvesting the pasta crop from spaghetti trees. Established in 1997, The Museum of Hoaxes in San Diego attracts a million visitors a month. You'll want to visit more than once, and tell your friends. Admission prices: $$$ for paperback, 288 pages, November 2003, Plume Books, New York, ISBN 0452284651; and $$$ for hardcover, 304 pages, illustrated, November 2002, Dutton Books, New York, ISBN 0525946780. Available at local bookstores and online booksellers.Reviewed by Larry C. Adams, CFE, CPA, CIA, CISA, author of "Fraud In Other Words: Professional Jargon and Uncensored Street Slang."

This book was one I just couldn't put down. Boese takes the span of cons, scams and hoaxes across the centuries, giving you tasty tidbits of each century since 1600. It is humorous to see what some people are willing to swallow, such as the plan to saw Manhattan Island in half to prevent it from sinking into the ocean.Over the centuries as modernization creeps (or steamrolls) in, the hoaxes have gotten more sophisticated. Hence once past 1865, Boese divides his chapters in half centuries instead of centuries, and a whole chapter is dedicated to just the hoaxing done since the turn of the century. (Think of all the photographic hoaxes after 9-11)Some of the cherished mystical monsters of the last century are exposed here too. Such as the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. Each hoax is presented with a little background as to how the perpetrators convinced people to accept them as fact. It ends with a few principles as to how to avoid being scammed by hoaxers yourself. Altogether thge most enjoyable book I have read so far this year.

This book is more satisfying than just a list of hoaxes. I loved reading about the hows and whys of hoaxing throughout the ages. This is a clever, entertaining read.

I've been waiting for this book, and now I'm delighted to have "The Museum of Hoaxes" to take with me everywhere. This is a wonderful collection of hoax stories from the Middle Ages to the Internet era, each an illustration of clever prankstering -- or astonishing gullibility. Well-written and easy to read at a page or two each, these hoaxes sometimes crack me up, sometimes make me feel smugly superior, and sometimes leave me afraid that I will soon get hoaxed myself. When I'm reading, I often find myself wanting to tell somebody about one of the incredible stories I've just found. Because the Museum is so comprehensive and thorough, there's almost a feeling of something useful about the knowledge I've acquired, all this trivia about centuries of hoaxes. It's just enough to make the pleasure entirely guiltless. This book is fabulous -- and that's no hoax!