{"product_id":"pranksters-2","title":"Pranksters","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom Benjamin\u003cbr\u003e\nFranklin's newspaper hoax that faked the death of his rival to Abbie Hoffman’s\u003cbr\u003e\nattempt to levitate the Pentagon, pranksters, hoaxers, and con artists have caused\u003cbr\u003e\nconfusion, disorder, and laughter in Western society for centuries. Profiling\u003cbr\u003e\nthe most notorious mischief makers from the 1600s to the present day, Pranksters\u003cbr\u003e\nexplores how “pranks” are part of a long tradition of speaking truth to power\u003cbr\u003e\nand social critique.\u003cbr\u003e\nInvoking such historical and contemporary figures as P.T. Barnum,\u003cbr\u003e\nJonathan Swift, WITCH, The Yes Men, and Stephen Colbert, Kembrew McLeod shows\u003cbr\u003e\nhow staged spectacles that balance the serious and humorous can spark important\u003cbr\u003e\npublic conversations. In some instances, tricksters have incited social change\u003cbr\u003e\n(and unfortunate prank blowback) by manipulating various forms of media, from\u003cbr\u003e\nnewspapers to YouTube. For example, in the 1960s, self-proclaimed “professional\u003cbr\u003e\nhoaxer” Alan Abel lampooned America’s hypocritical sexual mores by using\u003cbr\u003e\nconservative rhetoric to fool the news media into covering a satirical organization\u003cbr\u003e\nthat advocated clothing naked animals. In the 1990s, Sub Pop Records\u003cbr\u003e\nthen-receptionist Megan Jasper satirized the commodification of alternative\u003cbr\u003e\nmusic culture by pranking the New York\u003cbr\u003e\nTimes into reporting on her fake lexicon of “grunge speak.” Throughout this\u003cbr\u003e\nbook, McLeod shows how pranks interrupt the daily flow of approved information\u003cbr\u003e\nand news, using humor to underscore larger, pointed truths.\u003cbr\u003e\nWritten in an accessible, story-driven style, Pranksters\u003cbr\u003e\nreveals how mischief makers have left their shocking, entertaining, and\u003cbr\u003e\neducational mark on modern political and social life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Kembrew McLeod","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43573425373366,"sku":"9780814764367","price":25.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0251\/4980\/0541\/files\/9780814764367.jpg?v=1712137728","url":"https:\/\/combined-academic.myshopify.com\/products\/pranksters-2","provider":"Combined Academic Publishers - Mare Nostrum Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}