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

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Suspense, excess, danger and exuberant fun come together in Chuck Barris' unlikely autobiography--the tale of a wildly flamboyant 1970s television producer, better known as the infamous host of The Gong Show. What most people don't know is that Barris allegedly spent close to two decades as a decorated covert assassin for the CIA.

Barris, who achieved tremendous success as the creator and producer of hit TV game shows such as The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, claims to have joined the CIA as an agent in the early 1960s, infiltrated the Civil Rights movement, met with militant Muslims in Harlem, and traveled abroad in order to kill enemies of the United States.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is now a movie directed by and starring George Clooney, with Sam Rockwell as the author, but the original story is wild and gripping, spiced with intrigue, sex, bad behavior and plenty of great one-liners. It is destined to become a classic.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Don earphones. Shield delicate ears. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind has sex, violence, and obscenities. As with his zany old TV productions (The Dating Game, The Gong Show), Barris tries to entertain. He describes his avocation as a CIA hit man, creating suspense, except one faux Raymond Chandler bit. The complete text includes his hilarious chase to Lisbon after an American beauty, added raunch, spoofs, and more. Nick Sullivan's phrasing in the unabridged program is smooth, sometimes underplaying foul words. The condensed version loses some humor but retains the author's ego. Even so, he freely admits failures. Barris's narration does not underplay; his voice is rougher. Some unshockable adults will be taken in by behind-the-scenes TV and CIA stories in either one of these audiobooks. For popular biography collections, it's a qualified thumbs up.-Gordon Blackwell, Eastchester, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

AudioFile