The Book Prize Index

Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News

Kevin Young

Traces the history of the hoax as a distinct American phenomenon, exploring the roles of stereotype, suspicion, and racism as factors that have shaped fraudulent activities from the heyday of P.T. Barnum through the "fake news" activities of Donald Trump.

HistoryAmerican History · medium confidenceAmerican History81 signalsLlm Classifier: American History -> American HistoryGoogle Books: History -> HistoryKeyword Classifier: American History -> American HistoryLiterature & WritersMedia, Journalism & Public OpinionFilm, Television & Popular Culture

Award History

1 wins · 3 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards: Nonfiction2018WinnerOfficial source
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in NonfictionMajor2018LonglistOfficial source
National Book Critics Circle Award for CriticismMajor2017FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (3)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    • Donald Trump86%

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    Hoaxes in America have been shaped by stereotype, suspicion, and racism, from P.T. Barnum’s era through Donald Trump’s “fake news” activities.

    Model confidence 62%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    35 / 100 academic

    Serious trade

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 66%.