Eccentric masterpiece …

… Fraud, American Style, Review: 'Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News' by Kevin Young. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The thesis of the book is that there's something distinctively modern, and maybe distinctively American, about what we picture when we think of hoaxes and scams. Young is willing to acknowledge ancient and medieval frauds, just as he admits modern instances around the world. But he thinks the hoax found a new and different form—almost different in kind—in the 19th century.