Confessions of a Dangerous Mind CD
- Book Review,
by Chuck Barris
From Publishers Weekly
Originally published in 1982 but out-of-print for years, '70s television icon Barris's forgotten autobiography is being reissued to coincide with the December release of a major film adaptation. After two decades of relative obscurity, Barris's memoir may finally find an eager audience. Readers will probably best remember Barris as the creator and host of The Gong Show, but his resume also includes such classic shows as The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, as well as a hit song, "Palisades Park," and a New York Times bestselling book, You and Me Babe (1970). What will shock readers, however, is Barris's claim that, throughout his successful TV career, he was leading a double life as a decorated CIA assassin. While supposedly "scouting locations" to send his winning game show contestants, Barris was actually traveling to exotic locales to knock off America's Cold War foes. Or so he'd have readers believe. While far-fetched, the tension-filled scenes of Barris's supposed CIA activities provide an ingenious counterbalance to the story of his meandering personal life, the snarling critics who attacked Barris for dragging television into the gutter and hilarious recollections of how wholesome contestants would become inexplicably filthy once on the set of The Dating Game. Even though Barris's reputation as a wacky TV show host doomed this literary venture when it was originally published, it is in fact a remarkably well-crafted and entertaining book, both unflinchingly personal and at times laugh-out-loud funny. Twenty years later, it reads like a classic.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
Chuck Barris, international man of mystery? That's right. Learn all about the redoubtable, ebullient, and effusive Mr. Barris, the creator and host of "The Gong Show," in this high-energy account of his life and times. What a life, and what timing! You'll rarely reach for the gong mallet during this narration. Barris redefines frankness as he shares his double life: at the same time he was working in Hollywood, he claims to have been a CIA assassin. You'll be thrilled and amazed to follow Barris's soul-searching journey with its triple threat: Hollywood, "The Company" (the CIA), and a troubled personal life. Barris takes on mega-stress and mega-risk, and he manages to die only onstage when taken to task by the critics. D.J.B. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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