the abbreviated reign of “neon” leon spinks

introduction
THE JOY OF OOPS
WHETHER WE’RE SHOCKED by a “wardrobe malfunction” or hoot-
ing as a reality- show contestant is humiliated on national televi sion,
Americans are none-too-secretly fascinated with failure—and with good
reason. From embarrassing fashion faux pas to architectural disasters, recent
history is filled with flops that not only were bizarrely spectacular,
but have had lasting cultural impact.
Now, finally, here’s a book that not only celebrates some of the
most signifi cant flops, goofs, misjudgments, and fi ascoes of the past century
and a half, but also extracts a meaningful lesson from each.
Oops: Twenty Life Lessons from the Fiascoes That Shaped America
examines in excruciating detail twenty strange and amusing stories, from
the ill-fated 1967 Monkees–Jimi Hendrix concert tour to the preposterous
collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. It’s peopled with eccentric visionaries,
misguided geniuses, and well-intentioned incompetents, ranging
from the Reverend John Humphrey Noyes, the 19th-century minister
who created a libidinous utopia in upstate New York, to Dr. Hans Laube,
inventor of that dubious cinematic advance known as “Smell-O-Vision.”
We’ve carefully weighed the topics and personalities to create a book that
will, like its pre de ces sor, Poplorica: A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks,
Inventions, and Lore That Shaped Modern America, offer an enter-