{"product_id":"pranksters-9780814796290","title":"Pranksters","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom Benjamin\u003cbr\u003eFranklin's newspaper hoax that faked the death of his rival to Abbie Hoffman’s\u003cbr\u003eattempt to levitate the Pentagon, pranksters, hoaxers, and con artists have caused\u003cbr\u003econfusion, disorder, and laughter in Western society for centuries. Profiling\u003cbr\u003ethe most notorious mischief makers from the 1600s to the present day, Pranksters\u003cbr\u003eexplores how “pranks” are part of a long tradition of speaking truth to power\u003cbr\u003eand social critique.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInvoking such historical and contemporary figures as P.T. Barnum,\u003cbr\u003eJonathan Swift, WITCH, The Yes Men, and Stephen Colbert, Kembrew McLeod shows\u003cbr\u003ehow staged spectacles that balance the serious and humorous can spark important\u003cbr\u003epublic conversations. In some instances, tricksters have incited social change\u003cbr\u003e(and unfortunate prank blowback) by manipulating various forms of media, from\u003cbr\u003enewspapers to YouTube. For example, in the 1960s, self-proclaimed “professional\u003cbr\u003ehoaxer” Alan Abel lampooned America’s hypocritical sexual mores by using\u003cbr\u003econservative rhetoric to fool the news media into covering a satirical organization\u003cbr\u003ethat advocated clothing naked animals. In the 1990s, Sub Pop Records\u003cbr\u003ethen-receptionist Megan Jasper satirized the commodification of alternative\u003cbr\u003emusic culture by pranking the New York\u003cbr\u003eTimes into reporting on her fake lexicon of “grunge speak.” Throughout this\u003cbr\u003ebook, McLeod shows how pranks interrupt the daily flow of approved information\u003cbr\u003eand news, using humor to underscore larger, pointed truths.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten in an accessible, story-driven style, Pranksters\u003cbr\u003ereveals how mischief makers have left their shocking, entertaining, and\u003cbr\u003eeducational mark on modern political and social life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kembrew McLeod","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48274428330235,"sku":"9780814796290","price":39.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_11c7cdad-dc71-4eac-9698-20c82b3684f7.jpg?v=1771261488","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/pranksters-9780814796290","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}