Beverley Slopen Literary Agency

William Burrill

THE GREAT BIG BOOK OF MALARKEY

Malarkey (n): Something that does not make sense; balderdash, blather, bunkum, claptrap, drivel, nonsense, piffle, poppycock, rigmarole, tomfoolery, twaddle, tommyrot, baloney, bull, bunk, crap, hooey, hoax, humbug. However you define it, you'll find mounds of mirthful examples in The Great Big Book of Malarkey.

This collection of real stories about real people offers an amazing but true look at the wildest and greatest scams, frauds, hoaxes, cons, miracle cures, swindles, flim-flammery, spoofs, and pranks of our time. It also exposes the imposing imposters and the flummoxed fools who offer us proof positive that P.T. Barnum had it nailed when he said: "There's a sucker born every minute."

Well, actually, it turns out P.T. Barnam never said it - a rival did.

Burrill hilariously recounts a history of duplicity in various facets of life: the archaeological hoax that spawned the belief in the Curse of King Tut, the fake biography of legendary recluse Howard Hughes, and the subway-hopping Boston Marathon winner Rose Ruiz are just some of the hoaxes Burrill uses to examine the human phenomenon of gullibility and belief in the unbelievable.

Burrill also uses this collection of incredible cons to examine the impact of myth, myth-making, and full-blown malarkey on our customs, mores, beliefs, and cultures.

Key Porter/World Rights/Fall 2001

HEMINGWAY:
The Toronto Years
1920-1924

"Burrill's book stands as both a crucial addition to the already considerable body of Hemingway scholarship, and a vital, elucidating volume in its own right - a tough challenge, delightfully accomplished."

Maclean's Magazine

"William Burrill's Hemingway: The Toronto Years is a fascinating, well-executed piece of work; precise, evocative, and full of pleasurable excitement."

The Toronto Star

Ernest Hemingway in 1920 was a gangly young kid, dying to be a writer, when he walked into the Toronto Star newsroom and hung around until they hired him.

At the Star, Hemingway earned his first bylines, married his first wife, had a son, made his first trip to Paris, sold his first fiction, and produced news stories and feature articles on bulls, bohemians, battles, booze and bass.

His early articles for the Star reveal the development of the lean, stripped down style that influenced generations of writers. And events he covered for the paper formed the basis of his later fiction.

In this charming and ground-breaking book, William Burrill uses new material and includes 25 important articles by Hemingway never before published.

CAN/US 94/95

William Burrill, is a journalist and a humor columnist. He is also the author of the landmark book, Hemingway: The Toronto Years 1920-1924.