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Pranksters: Making Mischief in the Modern World
Contributor(s): McLeod, Kembrew (Author)
ISBN: 081479629X     ISBN-13: 9780814796290
Publisher: New York University Press
OUR PRICE:   $30.40  
Product Type: Hardcover
Published: April 2014
Qty:
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Media Studies
- True Crime | Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions
- History | Social History
Dewey: 001.95
LCCN: 2013029825
Physical Information: 1.17" H x 6.32" W x 9.29" (1.37 lbs) 364 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - Modern
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

From Benjamin
Franklin's newspaper hoax that faked the death of his rival to Abbie Hoffman's
attempt to levitate the Pentagon, pranksters, hoaxers, and con artists have caused
confusion, disorder, and laughter in Western society for centuries. Profiling
the most notorious mischief makers from the 1600s to the present day, Pranksters
explores how "pranks" are part of a long tradition of speaking truth to power
and social critique.

Invoking such historical and contemporary figures as P.T. Barnum,
Jonathan Swift, WITCH, The Yes Men, and Stephen Colbert, Kembrew McLeod shows
how staged spectacles that balance the serious and humorous can spark important
public conversations. In some instances, tricksters have incited social change
(and unfortunate prank blowback) by manipulating various forms of media, from
newspapers to YouTube. For example, in the 1960s, self-proclaimed "professional
hoaxer" Alan Abel lampooned America's hypocritical sexual mores by using
conservative rhetoric to fool the news media into covering a satirical organization
that advocated clothing naked animals. In the 1990s, Sub Pop Records
then-receptionist Megan Jasper satirized the commodification of alternative
music culture by pranking the New York
Times into reporting on her fake lexicon of "grunge speak." Throughout this
book, McLeod shows how pranks interrupt the daily flow of approved information
and news, using humor to underscore larger, pointed truths.

Written in an accessible, story-driven style, Pranksters
reveals how mischief makers have left their shocking, entertaining, and
educational mark on modern political and social life.

Contributor Bio(s): McLeod, Kembrew: - Kembrew McLeod is a writer, filmmaker, and Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa, and occasional prankster. He is the author of Creative License, Cutting Across Media, Owning Culture, and the award-winning Freedom of Expression(R). McLeod's writing has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Village Voice, and Rolling Stone.