The creator of The Gong Show, The Dating Game, and other television game shows describes his career and shares a tongue-in-cheek glimpse of his personal life

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Biographies & Memoirs

Barris, Chuck

Arts & Literature

St Martins Pr

You and Me, Babe

Literature & Fiction

Harper's Magazine Press

The former host of "The Gong Show" discusses his creation of "The Newlywed Game," "The Dating Game," and other televvision programs, his fall from grace, and life in his adopted France

The Game Show King: A Confession

Carroll & Graf Pub.

Good killers are hard to find. But the CIA has no trouble finding the legendary TV producer and game show king Chuck Barris. In Bad Grass Never Dies, Barris picks up the fast-paced intrigue in Hollywood, where his emotional life lies in ruins, his career careens out of control, and he can't get a break anyplace he turns. Then one day a high-ranking CIA boss appears unannounced on Barris' doorstep. The CIA needs the cooperation of a Mexican terrorist, and Barris is ordered to recruit the killer as a paid assassin. Complicating matters is the fact that this same assassin is responsible for the death of two of Barris' fellow operatives. What's to prevent him from facing the same fate on arrival in Mexico? Barris' beguiling humor and a crack-shot taxi driver hold the answer. The stakes continue to build in this eagerly awaited sequel from the author who dazzled and amused readers—and later movie audiences—with the publication of his first book of memoirs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

Bad Grass Never Dies: The Sequel to Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Humor & Entertainment

Da Capo Press

Published to acclaim in 1974—and substantially rewritten and expanded in this new edition—You and Me, Babe was the New York Times best-seller that launched Chuck Barris's career as a top-selling author. But unlike his later books (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Bad Grass Never Dies), You and Me, Babe is the irresistible combination of a truly affecting love story motored by Barris's classic brand of unique humor. Set in 1960s New York City, the novel centers on Tommy, a blue-collar schemer, who sets out to marry Sammy, an opinionated but dysfunctional young heiress with enough smarts to stand up to his shenanigans, though not enough to see his true motives. Her parents, however, see all too clearly, and when Tommy and Sammy announce their intention to marry, the family disinherits their firebrand daughter. Not to worry: Tommy has fallen in love with Sammy in the meantime, and the couple's fortune and fame all on their own becomes the source for this winning, and ultimately moving, New York tale.

You and Me, Babe: A Novel

Humor & Satire

Suspense, excess, danger, and exuberant fun come together in Chuck Barris's unlikely autobiography- the tale of a wildly amboyant '70s television producer nationally known as the host of The Gong Show. What most people don't know is that Barris also spent close to two decades as a decorated covert assassin for the CIA, claiming to have killed over thirty people. Honestly. Barris, who achieved tremendous success as the creator of the hit game shows The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, joined the CIA as an agent in the early 1960s. He inltrated the Civil Rights movement, met with militant Muslims in Harlem, and was sent abroad to kill enemies of the American state, even as his game shows began to soar to ratings success. Originally published in 1982, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind has been out of print for a number of years, but interest in Barris is about to reach an all-time high, with a major movie based on the book coming from Miramax Films in December 2002. The all-star cast includes Sam Rockwell, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Drew Barrymore. Barris will be covered extensively in the media this fall. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a wild and improbable tale spiced with intrigue, sex, bad behavior, and plenty of one-liners.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: An Unauthorized Autobiography

Miramax

Suspense, excess, danger, and exuberant fun come together in Chuck Barris's unlikely autobiography- the tale of a wildly amboyant '70s television producer nationally known as the host of The Gong Show. What most people don't know is that Barris also spent close to two decades as a decorated covert assassin for the CIA, claiming to have killed over thirty people. Honestly. Barris, who achieved tremendous success as the creator of the hit game shows The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, joined the CIA as an agent in the early 1960s. He inltrated the Civil Rights movement, met with militant Muslims in Harlem, and was sent abroad to kill enemies of the American state, even as his game shows began to soar to ratings success. Originally published in 1982, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind has been out of print for a number of years, but interest in Barris is about to reach an all-time high, with a major movie based on the book coming from Miramax Films in December 2002. The all-star cast includes Sam Rockwell, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Drew Barrymore. Barris will be covered extensively in the media this fall. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a wild and improbable tale spiced with intrigue, sex, bad behavior, and plenty of one-liners.

Miramax Books

A television producer launches an ambitious reality show in 2012 that irrevocably changes broadcasting history, in a tale populated by such characters as a genius teen prostitute, a scotch-sipping septuagenarian, and a Kentucky rube.

The Big Question: A Novel of Reality Television by the Author of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Simon&Schuster

From the infamous mind of a comic madman and the author of the sardonic The Big Question comes a mind-numbingly hilarious parody of cop dramas, police procedurals, and America's upper crust. Comic legend: Chuck Barris is the creator and former producer of The Gong Show, The Newlywed Game, and The Dating Game, among many others. His memoir, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, sparked a worldwide debate as to the validity of his professed identity when he claimed to have worked as an assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency during the 1960s and the 1970s. As a storyteller, Barris is the blackest comedian there is. As a satirist, he may be one of the best writers around today. A masterful spoof: Art Deco Jr. is heir to a vast fortune, scion of one of America's most powerful men but he is also the black sheep of the family. When he is found murdered in his Manhattan apartment, everyone wonders who could have killed him. Was it Art's recently spurned lover, Eddie Cotton, the failed actor and gigolo? Was it one of Art's own relatives, all of whom seem ready to disown him for tarnishing the family name? As the investigation unfolds, it becomes apparent to the novice detective Jimmy Netts that without an actual license, it's tough to investigate anything resembling a crime scene. Full of uproarious investigative snafus, Who Killed Art Deco? is a dark and delightfully funny book from an equally troubled mind.

Who Killed Art Deco?: A Novel

Della: A Memoir of My Daughter

This surprisingly candid, often funny, and entirely moving memoir is Chuck Barris’s story about life with his only child, Della. Born on Christmas Eve in 1962, Della was a lovable charmer like her father, an adventurous and quick-witted kid. She had a carefree suburban childhood, even while her father was fast becoming an entertainment superstar, inventing, hosting, and producing his legendary game shows. When Barris and his wife eventually divorced, Della was shuttled between parents in New York and California, then moved from boarding school in Switzerland to Beverly Hills High, among other places. Bored, lonely, and often depressed, she discovered drugs and petty crime early in adolescence, and her escapades soon took on a far more alarming and dangerous aspect. She was lost, yearning for attention and guidance, and growing up in Los Angeles amid temptation everywhere. Her father felt helpless: caring for a daughter was more than Barris had bargained for. Ranging from late-night phone calls from the neighbors to emergency room visits, Della’s behavior was out of control. 
When Della decided at age sixteen to move out on her own, Barris didn’t object. He gave her a trust fund and let her go out into the world alone, a regret that he shares with readers here in heartbreaking and clear-eyed detail as he chronicles Della’s descent into addiction and her eventual death from an overdose at age thirty-six. But Della is not just a grief-stricken story. Filled with loving memories and spontaneous humor, it is a brave and hard-earned reflection on fatherhood and a tribute to innocence lost.

History

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Barris, Chuck. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Barris, Chuck

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Barris, Chuck. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

You and Me, Babe

The Game Show King: A Confession

Bad Grass Never Dies: The Sequel to Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

You and Me, Babe: A Novel

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: An Unauthorized Autobiography

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: An Unauthorized Autobiography

The Big Question: A Novel of Reality Television by the Author of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Who Killed Art Deco?: A Novel

Della: A Memoir of My Daughter