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Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: An Unauthorized Autobiography (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind #1)
by
Chuck Barris
Suspense, excess, danger, and exuberant fun come together in Chuck Barris's unlikely autobiography- the tale of a wildly amboyant '70s television producer nationally known as the host of The Gong Show. What most people don't know is that Barris also spent close to two decades as a decorated covert assassin for the CIA, claiming to have killed over thirty people. Honestly.
...more
Paperback
,
256 pages
Published
November 27th 2002
by Miramax Books
(first published 1984)
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Community Reviews
(showing
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1,882)
A complete fraud! Or is it? Yes, it has to be! Doesn't it?
Who's to say if the super tall tales Barris lays down in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind are real? Like him or not, the man was a real entertainer. He knew what the people wanted and he gave it to them. But one wonders if while sitting around bored at his ABC Studios security guard gig cooking up ideas that would eventually turn into hit television shows like The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and the Gong Show, perhaps Barris was also co ...more
Who's to say if the super tall tales Barris lays down in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind are real? Like him or not, the man was a real entertainer. He knew what the people wanted and he gave it to them. But one wonders if while sitting around bored at his ABC Studios security guard gig cooking up ideas that would eventually turn into hit television shows like The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and the Gong Show, perhaps Barris was also co ...more
Was Chuck Barris, creator of
The Dating Game
,
The Newlywed Game
and
The Gong Show
actually a hit man for the CIA? Stranger things have occurred. After all, Julia Childs was a CIA agent but she never killed anyone...I think. I wonder if Valerie Plame ever offed someone?
I think it is safe to say Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is purely fiction or, at the most, a figment of Barris' manically creative mind. The surprising thing is that it is a very funny book with the type of humor you would expect ...more
I think it is safe to say Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is purely fiction or, at the most, a figment of Barris' manically creative mind. The surprising thing is that it is a very funny book with the type of humor you would expect ...more
A week ago, I happene to catch a little-known movie called "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" -- George Clooney's directoral debut. The movie also had Julia Roberts and Drew Barrymore in it, and although I'm not a movie-goer, I was surprised I had never heard of it. Then I realized that it was based on the "autobiography" of Chuck Barris, creator of "The Dating Game", "The Newlywed Game," and "The Gong Show" among others. Being a child of the 1970s, I remembered those games fondly, and watched th
...more
I finished the book this morning and then watched the movie, (made from a Charlie Kaufman screenplay adaptation) tonight after the Super Bowl. I can tell you that the film was a lot more edgy, dark and less fun than the book. Although both representations are meritorious. I've come to idolize Chuck Barris since I read You and Me, Babe years ago. The whole thing is an interesting read what with the whole fantasy about Chuckie Baby doubling as a CIA assassin. But, Barris' real life stuff is what f
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Jul 22, 2009
Brandon Will
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction
,
memoir-biography
Ladies and gentlemen...I'd like to introduce to you Mr. Chuck Barris, ladies and gentlemen: pop-song one-hit wonder writer, lothario, creator of numerous hit TV game shows, host of the skewed variety show The Gong Show, wearer of many goofy hats, living national joke, and...according to this debatable tell-all from the 70's, also a government hit-man.
Written so conversationally, constructed so flawlessly - at the time it was first published this fantastical yarn couldn't be proven nor dis-prove ...more
Written so conversationally, constructed so flawlessly - at the time it was first published this fantastical yarn couldn't be proven nor dis-prove ...more
I doubt Barris' story. His account of the recruitment process sounds way too random, and he comes off as unstable. The circumstances of the hits sound unlikely, and almost everybody he mentions who might be able to corroborate or debunk his stories are dead.
Besides, one of the surest signs somebody does NOT work for the CIA is when they claim they do.
Barris comes across as a pretty unpleasant human. To his credit he doesn't rationalize or blame others.
He has a picture in the book of one of the C ...more
Besides, one of the surest signs somebody does NOT work for the CIA is when they claim they do.
Barris comes across as a pretty unpleasant human. To his credit he doesn't rationalize or blame others.
He has a picture in the book of one of the C ...more
At the risk of making you think I am batshit insane, please allow me to tell you a story from my youth. At times, I would imagine that I was on a TV show, complete with an audience who would laugh, clap and go "ohhhhhhhhhhhhh" when I did something bad. But the "ohhhhhhhhh" was one of those, "Oh no she dinnit! That Patti girl is so cray-cray!" kind of things that you say while laughing at the protagonist, while simultaneously shaking your head at their craziness.
So I would do stupid shit, imagin ...more
So I would do stupid shit, imagin ...more
If all true, it is an incredible story and a CIA/game show creating bad ass. The shit you see about assassins and moles in the movies is for real. And once again the cliche about the book being better than the movie is true, but watch the movie anyway. I'm amazed Barris was never taken out.
The idea of the host of The Gong Show actually being a secret agent and Barris actually playing it completely straight the whole time sounds a lot more intriguing than it actually ends up being on paper. Given how outrageous a claim he's making, I expected the story to be more, well, outrageous.
Side-splittingly hilarious. Whether any of it is true or not is really of no consequence: the book is worth the read.
Actually, screw that, you HAVE to read this book. The one-liners alone are more than worth it. It's refreshing and gives you a really interesting bit of insight into a time period and (especially) individual that we of the later generations view with a sort of sepia-tinted nostalgically hokey glow. Barris writes with a raunchy punch and his brazenly honest confessions make him in ...more
Actually, screw that, you HAVE to read this book. The one-liners alone are more than worth it. It's refreshing and gives you a really interesting bit of insight into a time period and (especially) individual that we of the later generations view with a sort of sepia-tinted nostalgically hokey glow. Barris writes with a raunchy punch and his brazenly honest confessions make him in ...more
First things first, I'm gonna call bullshit on most, if not all , of Barris' CIA related nonsense. It all just seems to be concocted for the sake of making an interesting read. Not to mention, that it's all his word with no way of substantiating his facts. I find Chuck Barris to be an interesting personality on his own. And he found plenty of success creating TV game shows that any ordinary Joe could relate to. That being said, I am certain there would be enough material there alone to make an i
...more
I can't speaking for anyone else but I personally have always believed that Barris did have a government connection though he most certainly embellished the details for his brilliant book. Knowing what I know about the CIA now, I don't put it past them to approach Barris. Media wasn't everywhere then. People didn't carry around phones with cameras both still and video in their pockets at all times. No internet. It's not THAT big of a stretch that he could have been an operative.
The book like th ...more
The book like th ...more
A great tall tale. I almost believed him... until I read the sequel Bad Grass Never Dies.
A strange hybrid: one part memoir, one part elaborate spy fiction, this is an entertaining read overall. Barris's real story of success as a game show producer/host in the 1960s and 70s is pretty interesting overall, and he tells it mostly effectively although it does occasionally seem that he's left out a lot of details. He's bad with transitions and dialogue, so none of it feels as authentic as it could. I remember The Gong Show when I was very young, not so much watching it but that it was a
...more
Jul 31, 2011
Christopher Roth
added it
"'Why you?' Lucy Sue Glopp had asked while spreading Borden's canned whipped cream on my pecker. 'Why do YOU want to host "The Gong Show"?' We were lying naked atop my massive four-poster bed. 'Greed,' I answered, my arms clasped behind my head. 'Pure and simple greed.'" That's just a sample from an entertaining but ultimately baffling autobiography by the creator of The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game and creator and host of The Gong Show. For one thing, this is a sad individual whose whole s
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Whether or not you believe the veracity of this supposed autobiography isn't really important. What
is
important is how the interpretation of it changes if you assume it's true, compared to if you assume it's a fabrication. It's more interesting to assume it's a fabrication, because it begs the question of "why?"
Is the assassination double life just a clever way to make an autobiography more interesting? To find a publisher for what might otherwise be seen as a therapy session, an outlet to vent ...more
Is the assassination double life just a clever way to make an autobiography more interesting? To find a publisher for what might otherwise be seen as a therapy session, an outlet to vent ...more
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
is one weird book.
Chuck Barris
subtitles it as an "unauthorized autobigraphy". That should begin to give you an idea that this guy isn't exactly shooting ducks with a completely loaded gun. But it is an entertaining read. Ever wonder what Chuck Barris; creator of the Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show, did in his spare time? Me niether... But apparently he killed enemies of the good old US of A during the height of the Cold War. Like I said: it is
...more
I haven't seen the film, and frankly I can't really see why they would make one based on this book. It was only mildly entertaining.
The premise sounds interesting and exciting: the creator of The Gong Show, The Newlywed Game, The Dating Game, etc. was an assassin for the CIA.I guess it's possible; Julia Child was a secret agent back in the day, so stranger things have happened.
Based on this book, neither the CIA nor the KGB seem to be particularly well-organized or intelligent operations. Barris ...more
The premise sounds interesting and exciting: the creator of The Gong Show, The Newlywed Game, The Dating Game, etc. was an assassin for the CIA.I guess it's possible; Julia Child was a secret agent back in the day, so stranger things have happened.
Based on this book, neither the CIA nor the KGB seem to be particularly well-organized or intelligent operations. Barris ...more
So unbelievable I totally believe it! I LOVED THIS BOOK! It goes down as one of my all time favorites, in part because it so zany and so hard to believe. The premise is that Chuck Barris, the creator of such cheesy game shows, like The Gong Show, was actually a CIA hitman and the whole time his TV show personae was a front. I know, if you're like me right now your saying "what the hell?" I know I still am as well. The book reads as a memoir and a Mea Culpa as Barris confesses to murdering dozens
...more
This may be the most bizarre book I've ever read. A well-respected writer friend gave it to me as a present, so I muddled through the beginning. By the middle of the book, I was rubberneck reading--the book was such a catastrophe I couldn't look away. Where to begin with everything that's wrong with this memoir? Well, we can begin with the biggest, most-obvious flaw: an utter lack of true self-awareness, half-masked by an awareness of the lack of self-awareness. Reading the words of someone who
...more
Das hier soll eine Autobiographie des erfolgreichen Showmasters Chuck Barris sein, der nebenbei ein Doppelleben als CIA-Auftragskiller führte. Seine Erfolge beim Fernsehen entsprechen - meines Wissens - der Wahrheit. So hat er z.B. "Herzblatt" erfunden, hieß bei ihm "The Dating Game". Auch andere Familienshows, die so ähnlich dann im deutschen Fernsehen liefen, stammen aus seiner Feder.
In wie weit aber seine CIA-Erlebnisse der Wahrheit entsprechen entzieht sich meiner Kenntnis. Ich gebe nur mal ...more
In wie weit aber seine CIA-Erlebnisse der Wahrheit entsprechen entzieht sich meiner Kenntnis. Ich gebe nur mal ...more
I know it's been out for a while, but we were watching a Netflix and saw a preview for this film, which made me think of the book. So, I read it. I've noticed that I read a lot of books that eventually are made into films, but I tend to read the books AFTER the movie's been produced. Odd. Like, for instance, I'm adding Into the Wild to the list of books to read (though this is the rare exception when I've first seen the movie then decided to read the book). And, when we were at the movies on Sun
...more
Couldn’t pass this up! I had heard about his possible CIA connections, which no one knows for sure if it was true or not. I had forgotten or not even known that he wrote the “The Palisades Park” tune…all I truly remembered was The Gong Show.
Fact or fiction his story was entertaining, full of adventure and intrigue and I didn’t want to put it down!!
I loved how he called Hollywood; Holly-Weird …can’t blame him for that. To think he was blamed for ruining all of television for The Gong Show…! Unbe ...more
Fact or fiction his story was entertaining, full of adventure and intrigue and I didn’t want to put it down!!
I loved how he called Hollywood; Holly-Weird …can’t blame him for that. To think he was blamed for ruining all of television for The Gong Show…! Unbe ...more
Could the zany doofus who cavorted with the Unknown Comic, Gene-Gene the Dancing Machine and the parade of mid-70s "personalities" on the panel merely be an alter-ego for a trained CIA killer? Chuckie Baby says yes!
I have actually never seen the movie, although it has been on my list for years. Many people here comment that the movie is better than the book. (And we all know how bibliophiles hate to cop to that.) I'll have to bump the movie up a few notches on my list of things to do.
I have no c ...more
I have actually never seen the movie, although it has been on my list for years. Many people here comment that the movie is better than the book. (And we all know how bibliophiles hate to cop to that.) I'll have to bump the movie up a few notches on my list of things to do.
I have no c ...more
A funny one, sort of similar to Robert Evans' The Kid Stays in the Picture in style, but with a bit of American Psyhco tossed in.
A presumably unreliable narrator, who is very charismatic, and a story that has pacing issues as the importance of events is schewed through the lense of some one vicious enough for the entertainment industry and hired killing.
Not a terribly good book but I enjoyed it, give it a try if you liked everything about American Psyhco except for those damn endless lists.
A presumably unreliable narrator, who is very charismatic, and a story that has pacing issues as the importance of events is schewed through the lense of some one vicious enough for the entertainment industry and hired killing.
Not a terribly good book but I enjoyed it, give it a try if you liked everything about American Psyhco except for those damn endless lists.
A few chuckles, but ultimately this is a "autobiography" with few facts. Even if you read it like fiction, it's still a little boring. Chuck Barris is way too full of himself and that really comes through in his writing.
It's funny, I had a big time crush on Chuck Barris when I was younger (it was around the time this movie came out) and I remembered him being a good writer. I still think he was a good writer, and I'd love to read his newer stuff, but I hadn't realized what a total tool he was. Just a really horrible person.
Anyway, when I saw the movie I figured it was possible that he did all that stuff, but I think anyone who reads the book will quickly rule out any possibility of it being true. That being sai ...more
Anyway, when I saw the movie I figured it was possible that he did all that stuff, but I think anyone who reads the book will quickly rule out any possibility of it being true. That being sai ...more
Feb 18, 2015
Josef Ploski
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction-entertaintment
Being born in 1978 I knew little of the Gong show and Mr. Barris' other game shows other then a few clips and by reputation. Whether this is true or not I found it enjoyable as a story and amazing if fact.
This was a very compelling read. Much more so than I anticipated. I don't think this book will be enjoyed by everyone, but if you've seen the movie, you'll enjoy the book.
Freakin' hilarious! Barris explains how he was both the host and creator of popular tv shows and a hit-man for the CIA. What more could one ask for from life?
He answers a simple ad, desperate for cash. What does he get himself into? Nothing more than the CIA! At the same time, his star in Hollyweird starts taking off. What are the odds?? Globetrotting, he gets to kill people. The luck! But.... he can't get close to people. Everyone is annoying. The Soviets are out to kill him!! He has to do a fi ...more
He answers a simple ad, desperate for cash. What does he get himself into? Nothing more than the CIA! At the same time, his star in Hollyweird starts taking off. What are the odds?? Globetrotting, he gets to kill people. The luck! But.... he can't get close to people. Everyone is annoying. The Soviets are out to kill him!! He has to do a fi ...more
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Charles Hirsch "Chuck" Barris (born June 3, 1929) is an American game show creator, producer, and host. He is best known for hosting The Gong Show and creating The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game. He is also a songwriter, who wrote the hit "Palisades Park", and the author of
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
, a story about himself that became a film directed by George Clooney.
Barris was born in Ph ...more
More about Chuck Barris...
Barris was born in Ph ...more
Feb 07, 2010 10:48PM