We're all familiar with infomercials promising miracle diets, TV preachers promising salvation, and e-mail spam promising riches. Although their transmission means are modern, the scams themselves aren't new. They were a born out of the radio age, through stations sometimes called "border blasters." These were high-power AM broadcasters set up just over the Mexican border to beam music, medical miracles and merchandise to the U.S. in a way never heard before on domestic radio.

BORDER RADIO is a wonderful history of the border blaster stations. Fowler and Crawford have compiled an exhaustive history of the stations and personalities in a way that captures the flavor of the times. Some of the radio personalities, like the Goat Gland Doctor, were outright frauds, others, like Wolfman Jack, were the purveyors of the exciting, underground culture of rock-and-roll. All hawked their wares on the border stations, making an impression on American broadcasting, popular music, advertising and merchandising that is still felt today.

Superbly detailed, BORDER RADIO covers the evolution of the medium from the early days of the 1930s when hillbilly music and medical quacks ruled the airwaves, to its demise in the 1960s when television and broadcasting treaties silenced the border stations for good. If you love radio and Americana, you won't be able to put this book down. Highly recommended.

This book introduces us to the colorful world of a bygone era, that of border radio. Brilliant technicians constructed gargantuan transmitters along the border towns of Texas/Mexico and beamed their signal into all of North America - one angry resident complained that was ALL he could get on his radio. These stations were distinguished by their call signs that began with an 'X'. This spawned an industry of singers, politicians, preachers and pitchman the type we now see on "infomercials". Mail was the barometer of the day - the more mail you "pulled" in from listeners the more clout you carried with stations - "keep those cards and letters coming!" New Federal regulations put an end to this wild world but not until the airwaves crackled with everyone from Wolfman Jack to the Rev. Ike - "get out of the ghetto and get into the get-mo!" This is a marvelously written treasure trove that will be welcomed by anyone interested in radio, salesmanship, and American sub-cultures and the bizarre.

Most books about US radio history are written like a doctoral thesis or ex-dj's gossip gabfests. The non-fiction book tells true tales of tall characters, with enough information sprinkled through to make radio geeks interested. If this were fiction, you'd swear the characters were invented by Kinky Friedman. After reading several books on radio history in recent years, this stands as one of the most informative and entertaining.

I loved this book, however some of the pages were unprinted. I would like to send it back to you for a complete one. I have dogeared the missing pages. Please advise.

Life at John Decker's Studio/home on Bundy Drive in Brentwood, CA. in the late thirties and forties and the men who gathered there. Reminiscences of the poet Sadakichi Hartmann,around whose life the story is wrapped, John Barrymore, the host, artist John Decker and WC Fields as they gather with a supporting cast at Decker's Studio at the end of their lives. Rude, urbane, witty, vicious, caustic, loyal, intrepid, and hard living, these men make for a fascinating read written by one who gathered with them at the last meetings. Fowler was one of the best writers of his age and his intimacy with the subjects is evident in the affection and respect he affords his subjects. Not blind to their faults, a well rounded picture emerges of an age, place,and people that no longer exist; and if you believe Fowler, mores the pity. Tragedy and triumph are talentedly wrapped up in this reminiscence of Hollywood in the Golden Era.

As an old movie buff, and in awe of those grand stars of yesteryear; in the glamourous days of Hollywood, with particular interest in W. C. Fields - this book was amusing, hilarous, and exposing. It is a narrative (minutes) of meetings being held between those glorious drinking buddies, Fields, Barrymore, Fairbanks (and others) by Fowler, a member of that exclusive group, whose purpose never quite got off the ground. If you love a taste of nostalgia, this a candid shot of the era. I had an autographed copy, and it got lost in the years of loaning. I would love to find my copy, but just a copy of it would be great again.

Gene Fowler wrote gracefully and eloquently of his great friend John Barrymore in this, a biography from an era in which private lives were not seen as tabloid fodder and in which an author could concentrate on the significant moments of an artist's journey rather than sensationalism. As Fowler intended, Barrymore emerges from this book not as a hell-raising, womanizing alcoholic who was also an actor, but as an artist of real merit and significance whose life was by turns quixotic, hilarious, tragic, the man himself an authentic genius (as can still be seen in some of his film performances) doomed by self-destructive alcoholism. And yet, as Fowler states, "...his spirit remained essentially young and unconquered." Highly recommended for any readers interested in writing as elegant as a Fred Astaire dance number about a great, misunderstood man and actor.

bill fallon was an exceptionally brilliant lawyer who by his courtroom demeanor overcame adversity and obtained acquital for many of his clients when it seemed hopeless

"Timber Line" explores the lives and times of Harry Tammen and Fred Bonfils, the flamboyant (and flim-flamming) publishers of the Denver Post during its yellow heyday. The two are the moral equals of the occasionally unethical William Randolph Hearst, even if the Post didn't nearly match Hearst's circulation. All one must know about these men is that their newsroom was known as the Bucket of Blood, because it relied heavily upon brilliant, often lurid red headlines to snag readers.

Fowler was a marvelous storyteller and "Timber Line" ventures far and wide in telling relevant yarns about Tom Horn, Mollie Brown and many others of the Wild West's transitional period. Thus, this book is not just a profile of two swindlers who disguised themselves as legitimate big-city newspapermen, it reflects an important period in the West's evolution.

Not that I am biased but Gene Fowler just happened to be a distant relative. This book explores the life of Gene Fowler and the newspaper business in 1920's Denver. Through tracing my family history, I have found some exciting and colorful characters to whom I am thrilled to be associated with, Gene Fowler being once such individual. This book is exceptional reading especially if you love Colorado history.

Beau James is the blueprint for mega municipality mayoral sagas. Gene Fowler, a NYC journalist in the first half of this century, spins a seemless tale chock full of facts that fuel the force and friction of this page turner.