The Arts of Deception

Playing with Fraud in the Age of Barnum

James W. Cook

    Introduction: Thinking with Tricks

    1. The Death and Rebirth of the Automaton Chess-Player

    2. The Feejee Mermaid and the Market Revolution

    3. Describing the Nondescript

    4. Modern Magic

    5. Queer Art Illusions

    Epilogue: Barnum's Ghosts

    Notes

    Index

  • Cover: The Arts of Deception
  • A photo of the author

James W. Cook is Assistant Professor of History and American Culture at the University of Michigan.