American Freak Show: The Completely Fabricated Stories of Our New National Treasures

· Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Johnny Heller and Jo Anna Perrin
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4 hr 53 min
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About this audiobook

In just three short years, Willie Geist has gone from behind-the-scenes producer at MSNBC to rising on-air star, as the host of Way Too Early with Willie Geist and cohost of Morning Joe. He's fast, he's funny—something of an early-morning Jon Stewart.



Now, in his first book, Geist focuses on America's ongoing parade of giant pop culture personalities, beings inflated by the Internet and twenty-four-hour cable news and tethered only loosely to the ground. Think helium-filled characters like Sarah Palin, Bernie Madoff, Rod Blagojevich, Miley Cyrus, Jon and Kate, Miss California Carrie Prejean, Captain Sully, and the aptly named "Balloon Boy." They float into our lives, consume our attention as we gawk from the street, and then slowly drift away as another one bobs into view.



In a series of hilarious yet biting satirical essays, Geist captures the absurdity of today's pseudocelebrity-obsessed culture. Among other things, he reveals Sarah Palin's 2012 Inauguration speech, broadcast to a national audience live from the site of WWE's Monday Night Raw as a tribute to "Real America." Geist also takes us inside the room for the Bernie Madoff Celebrity Roast in Hell. Roastmaster Pol Pot provides the laughs. And you'll pull up a seat for Sunday coverage of the seventh annual Kim John-Il Celebrity Golf Tournament, where Dear Leader teams with the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and funnyman Ray Romano for a good cause and some bad golf.



Lately, American life seems like a parade of larger-than-life, overinflated giant balloon characters. Geist has written their made-up stories.
In just three short years, Willie Geist has gone from behind-the-scenes producer at MSNBC to rising on-air star, as the host of Way Too Early with Willie Geist and cohost of Morning Joe. He's fast, he's funny—something of an early-morning Jon Stewart. Now, in his first book, Geist focuses on A...

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About the author

Willie Geist is the host of MSNBC's Way Too Early with Willie Geist and cohost of Morning Joe. He also hosts Zeitgeist, a satirical video blog on MSNBC.com.

Johnny Heller has earned multiple Earphones Awards from AudioFile magazine, including one for Closing Time by Joe Queenan, and has earned two Audie Awards and many more nominations. Named one of the Top Fifty Narrators of the Twentieth Century by AudioFile, he has recorded over five hundred titles.

Jo Anna Perrin is an accomplished actor who has appeared in film and television, as well as on stage in New York, Los Angeles, and regionally. The narrator of numerous audiobooks, Jo Anna has garnered critical praise from AudioFile magazine, Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly.

Willie Geist is the host of MSNBC's Way Too Early with Willie Geist and cohost of Morning Joe. He also hosts Zeitgeist, a satirical video blog on MSNBC.com. Johnny Heller has earned multiple Earphones Awards from AudioFile magazine, including one for Closing Time by Joe Queenan, and has earned tw...

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