{"product_id":"9780814796290","title":"Pranksters","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51185219469586,"sku":"9780814796290","price":56.22,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0508\/3093\/4173\/files\/9780814796290.jpg?v=1774734449","url":"https:\/\/bargainbooks.com.au\/products\/9780814796290","provider":"Bargain Books Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}