Neal Thompson
in conversation with Denise Kiernan
May 24, 2013
Denise Kiernan, author of Girls of Atomic City, interviews acclaimed biographer Neal Thompson. Thompson presents his marvelously compelling book on Robert Ripley, the cartoonist turned globetrotting millionaire and outrageous showman who celebrated the world's strangest oddities and taught us to believe in the unbelievable.
"Robert Ripley was as unique and fascinating as the 'Believe It or Not' newspaper feature that made him one of the most popular and widely read syndicated cartoonists in the country during the 1930s, and Thompson delivers an equally fascinating biography that captures the influence of Ripley's work life then and now, well into the age of television and the Internet ....Thompson superbly shows how Ripley's work is the basis for today's more extreme reality shows by teaching readers 'to gape with respect at the weirdness of man and nature.'" -Publishers Weekly
"Thompson paints a picture of Ripley as a brilliant but aggressively eccentric man, a globe-trotting curiosity seeker who always believed there was something even more unusual just around the corner. A Curious Man is a fine introduction to a man who, for most of us, has been merely the name above a famous title." -Booklist
"Robert Ripley was as unique and fascinating as the 'Believe It or Not' newspaper feature that made him one of the most popular and widely read syndicated cartoonists in the country during the 1930s, and Thompson delivers an equally fascinating biography that captures the influence of Ripley's work life then and now, well into the age of television and the Internet ....Thompson superbly shows how Ripley's work is the basis for today's more extreme reality shows by teaching readers 'to gape with respect at the weirdness of man and nature.'" -Publishers Weekly
"Thompson paints a picture of Ripley as a brilliant but aggressively eccentric man, a globe-trotting curiosity seeker who always believed there was something even more unusual just around the corner. A Curious Man is a fine introduction to a man who, for most of us, has been merely the name above a famous title." -Booklist