P.T. Barnum was the man behind the legendary "Barnum & Bailey Circus". He wrote several books, most being accounts of his life under the big top. In his 1865 publication of The Humbugs of the World, Barnum tells stories of the many people he has encountered in his travels throughout the world with his circus. He is famous for having coined the phrase, "There’s a sucker born every minute." In the opening chapter of his book, he quotes Webster’s definition of a "humbug" as "an imposition under fair pretences". The rest is merely eight sections of stories revolving around the many "humbugs" Barnum has encountered in his lifetime, along with the "suckers" that fell for their tricks.

A collection of a variety of stories involving just as many people, places, and events, The Humbugs of the World is without any major characters or plot. Different from the realist and naturalist novels of its time, the book provides readers with something refreshingly distinct. Barnum’s methods of storytelling are fresh and to the point, making the book easily read in one or two sittings.

Meant to be a light-hearted book, Barnum makes no apologies for giving the names of those who have made an art of deception. He almost seems boastful in the fact that his novel is taking the shape of a kind of "outing" of these wrongdoers. His feeling of superiority because he has caught these "humbuggers" in the act is blatantly obvious throughout. He reveals this through his use of humor and sarcastic wit.

In his section entitled "Personal Reminiscences", he discloses actual persons such as the famous Grizzly Adams, basically calling him a fool. He tells of Grizzly claiming to have seen wild jungle animals such as lions, tigers, camels, and even hippopotami in California. To prove him a fool, Barnum has one of his friends paint a pair of domestic pigeons gold. He tells Grizzly that these are rare pigeons, also from California. To his delight Grizzly is amazed by the birds, claiming that he must add them to his museum. It is only when their feathers grow out, revealing white roots, that Grizzly realizes he has been "humbugged" by Barnum.

Most of Barnum’s examples of "humbugs" do not involve him, however. In "Trade and Business Impositions" he claims that anything from opium to strychnine is added to our liquors. He says, (of strychnine), "A wholesale liquor-dealer in New York city, however, assures me that more than one-half the so-called whisky is poisoned with it" (118).

Barnum combines wit and sarcasm throughout his exposing of countless numbers of people and events. In one of the most humorous sections entitled "Ghosts and Witchcrafts", he tells many stories surrounding people and their encounters with spirits beyond the grave. Barnum sets up the story, then gives reasonable, logical explanations for why these accounts are entirely false. Again, he provides humorous tales of men and women who claim to have encountered these ghosts. He tells of an old sea captain, with an overbearing wife, who met up with a ghost, which blocked his path while walking home one evening. The man, in his rush to get home, says to the spirit, "If you are not the devil, get out! If you are, come along with me and get supper. I married your sister!" (224).

One drawback of the book, which may be justifiable for the time it was written, is Barnum’s total lack of respect for African Americans as well as toleration for those of different religions other than Christianity. Almost all of the subjects he exposes in "The Spiritualists" are African Americans, which he uses as a basis for their lack of finding "real jobs" instead of relying on "humbugging" others. He says that they are incapable of holding down jobs, so they must resort to these tactics in order to make money. In the final chapter of the book, he refers to religions such as Voudoux, Shamanism, and those of Native Americans as "heathen" (310). It must be kept in mind, however, that political correctness was not as applicable in Barnum’s time.

Another possible shortcoming of the book is its repetitiveness, which adds to its length. Many of the stories are in some ways repeated throughout the various sections. The point of each section could be made with three to five stories, but Barnum feels it necessary to reminisce on every example he has ever encountered.