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Chuck Barris

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Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Hardcover – January 1, 1984

by Chuck Barris (Author)

4.3 158 ratings

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The creator of The Gong Show, The Dating Game, and other television game shows describes his career and shares a tongue-in-cheek glimpse of his personal life

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ St Martins Pr; First Edition (January 1, 1984)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312162146
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312162146
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.22 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #1,404,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,069 in Television Performer Biographies
- #11,424 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies
- #41,052 in Memoirs (Books)

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4.3 158 ratings

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4.3 out of 5

158 global ratings

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brie livingston

Chuck barris novelist?

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2008

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Can't determine if Chuck Barris was really a hit man for the CIA or not.
Perhaps he did some work for them, but didn't work out, and they let him
go? Chuck is from the great city of Philadelphia. Even though Chuck is an
educated person, there is no record of him having been a smug ivy leaguer
-- exaggeration? Hard to hide from the internet chucko! I'm sure the
University of Pennsylvania would be more than glad to confer an honorary
degree in return for a cool million dollar donation. Anyway, I wish I
could write as good as Chuck. He knows his stuff! Also, I would love to
compose music like chuck --"Palisades Park" rocks for sure! (Hell. I
can't even play a musical instrument!) In this book Chuck mentions making
the "Gong Show Movie", which was a big flop during its brief theatrical
release. Sometime in the eighties I rented the VHS video tape, and found
the movie to be existential at times, which made it even more wonderful!
Chuck needs to post the pictures of Lucy Sue Glopp on the internet
somewhere : photobucket, imageshack, flickr (all free), or perhaps on a
gong show website. Also, a video of the popsicle twins. I would think that youtube would allow it. Definitely, one of my fondest memories of the seventies is watching the gong show: the amazing joy of dancing along with "Gene Gene the dancing machine", the unknown comic insulting Chucky baby, and seductive Jaye P. Morgan (from Tujunga!) Oh! Showing a picture of a woman in the book (Patricia Watson, who went to Radcliffe), whom he supposedly made love to, but later had to murder because she was a mole?!?!?!-- saying it was almost easy killing her -- right out of Mickey Spillane. I'm not saying the book is bunk, but i suspect at least some brilliant
exaggeration. The book is at least a great novel, but probably not
non-fiction, either way it's a good read. Definitely, one of the most
wonderful things during the seventies for many people was "the Gong Show", with Chuck Barris at ground zero!

2 people found this helpful

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none

Not Bad for a Crazy Guy

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024

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Interesting reading, written by a certifiably crazy dude. Believe him or not about being a killer, it's still entertaining, and a departure from the norm. I bought his 2nd book and am reading it now.

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Marnie E. Delano

WILD & HILARIOUSLY ENTERTAINING

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2019

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Chuck Barris’s memoir is in parts gut bustingly funny, ridiculously implausible, unimaginably poignant, incredibly weird, bizarre, shocking & surprisingly literate. The reader is never quite sure that it’s factual or just another silly put-on like his last days’ Gong Show but his insight & sharing personal thoughts & feelings tends to lean toward the genuine & his gift for hilarity makes it a page turner. Any book that can reduce a solitary reader to uncontrollable laughter to the point of tears is a keeper indeed.

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Sam

One of my top 5 books for sure. Possibly my favorite.

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2015

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Barris writes like a great writer, writing for a person with the attention span of a modern TV viewer... but in the best of ways; he doesn't take any liberties with his reader's time. Nothing is there that isn't entertaining or necessary from cover to cover.

I can't think of another book that goes so deep into the absurd, the gritty/obscene and the darkness of human experience so accessibly, so lightly. An unreliable narrator masterpiece that isn't on the nose about the intellectual baggage of the conceit is what makes this so great -- and probably why it isn't recognized as being a more serious feat of writing.

6 people found this helpful

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Rick Spell

Ramblings of a Deranged Mind

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2003

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I finished this book two days ago and still don't quite know what to make of it. What Chuck Barris projected on "The Gong Show" is projected in this book. He has minimal attention span and his mind works in mysterious ways. Barris is significant to Pop Culture by lowering the standards of our television viewing.
While Chuck Barris is most famous for "The Gong Show", his other inventions, "The Dating Game" and "The Newlywed Game" have stood the test of time better. For those who haven't seen the Gong Show, it was a prelude to Johnny Knoxville and reality TV, i.e., the worst that TV has to offer. Now admittedly I watched it and sometimes enjoyed the comic appeal of the train wreck. The book also mentions the early success with Dating and Newlywed shows which allowed him to grow his ego into the disastrous Gong Show.
As a biography, this book just touches the high points, TV Producer with bad long-term romantic relationships. Obviously the book has been rediscovered based upon his claims of being a CIA spy. Not just a spy but also a hit man. I'm sorry but it is so unbelievable that to even guess to its validity as some have done is incredulous. It would be too easy to track some documentation to his involvement. There is a lady agent who is mentioned and pictured in the book that could easily be tracked if this were true as well as his initial supervisor who was killed. What you have is what the title says, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind". The guy has a great imagination and wrote a book partly autobiographical with great fiction on top.
After a short slow period getting into the story, I found the book interesting and funny. At one point I was in an airport suppressing laughter. But by the last 75 pages, the story slowed to a crawl. He didn't like his job producing. His relationships are terrible. Let's go kill someone to spice up the book. I would add that the ending does provide a plot twist I was not expecting and did enjoy.
In summary, I'm neither glad nor sad that I read this book. It was somewhat interesting but dated and may not be worth your time unless you have a specific interest in Chuck Barris or Pop Culture in America in the 60s/70s. Now, if you like the ranting of a deranged mind........

20 people found this helpful

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FloridaKay

Truth or Fiction?

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2011

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I'm not sure if I was reading fiction or non-fiction but whatever the case, i could not put this book down. I finished it in a few days and was disappointed when it ended. Now i find out there is a sequel, so I'm looking forward to reading it. What I found most interesting and funny was how he started the TV shows The Dating Game and The Gong Show.
I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a brief escape from the real world.

One person found this helpful

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