Discover new books on Goodreads

See if your friends have read any of Peter Fenton's books

149 ratings | 65 reviews | avg rating:4.28

Peter’s Year In Books

Peter’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Peter’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Peter’s 2025 Year in Books

Peter Fenton’s Followers (12)

Peter’s Bookshelves

to-read (6)
currently-reading (0)
read (150)
did-not-finish (0)
abnormal-psychology (4)
americana (19)
circus-and-carnival (5)
comedy (1)
communism-high-finance (2)
con-artists-internet-scams-influe (4)
See all bookshelves »

Peter’s Friends (8)

Robert

6,769 books | 232 friends

Melanie

4,534 books | 112 friends

Kasem Wattana

671 books | 1,154 friends

C. Mroch

24 books | 129 friends

Trestle Press

479 books | 4,763 friends

Patrick Fealey

134 books | 42 friends

Zeb Kantrowitz

2,598 books | 41 friends

Dan Rozanski

67 books | 2 friends

Peter Fenton

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Genre

Memoir, Crime, Nonfiction

Member Since

September 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/peterfenton

edit data

Peter Fenton is author of the memoir Eyeing the Flash: The Education of a Carnival Con Artist (Simon & Schuster, 2005). William Grimes of the New York Times called it “a cross between Ferris Bueller and William S. Burroughs…a hilarious, twisted, coming-of-age story.” Fenton has written two humor books: Truth or Tabloid! You Decide (Three Rivers Press, 2003) and I Forgot to Wear Underwear on a Glass-Bottom Boat (St. Martin’s Press, 1997). He lives in Oregon.

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Peter Fenton questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Peter Fenton’s books

Average rating: 3.44 · 203 ratings · 31 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Eyeing the Flash: The Making of a Carnival Con Artist 3.43 avg rating — 191 ratings — published 2004 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Truth or Tabloid? 3.13 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2003 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	I Forgot to Wear Underwear on a Glass-Bottom Boat: Real People, True Secrets 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1997 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

19 posts
Peter Fenton's Blog

Imaginary Friends Saved Our Marriage.

We’re mature adults of sound mind and body and have warm relations with a host of imaginary friends. Well, not always warm, because they’re six brilliant rascals with a penchant for getting into difficult scrapes. Many is the time they’ve had us up past our usual 9 PM bed time, worried about whether they’d return home safe from their risky adventures around the world. And, one time, outer space.
I Read more of this blog post »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on September 01, 2022 19:09 • Tags: divorce, imaginary-friends, love, marriage, pandemic, relationships

View all 19 posts »

rss
Peter’s Recent Updates

Peter Fenton wants to read Trash! A Garbageman's Story by Simon Paré-Poupart	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 24, 2026 02:39PM · 1 like · like
Peter Fenton rated a book it was amazing BUG DEATH by F.A. Nettelbeck	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
R.I.P. Fred. Which is not easy.
Aug 24, 2026 02:38PM · like · see review
Peter Fenton rated a book it was amazing Pulp: Charles Bukowski's Final Hardboiled Noir Comedy – Lady Death, Aliens, and the Absurd by Charles Bukowski	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Helped foster my love of all things sordid under the L.A. sun. Best read in some sleazy bar on Western Avenue. Used to buy beer at the same store as him in Redondo Beach.
Aug 24, 2026 02:34PM · like · see review
Peter Fenton wants to read Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King by Preston Lauterbach (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 24, 2026 02:30PM · like
Peter Fenton is now following Melanie's reviews
Aug 24, 2026 02:28PM · like
Peter Fenton and 1 other person liked Myf Schenk's review of Black Toad: "This is written very well, there are some beautiful sections of description. However, it is very dark, and it gets darker as it goes. I would actually almost call it horror rather than thriller."
Apr 04, 2026 03:48PM · see review
Peter Fenton and 2 other people liked Jordan Tomasi's review of Black Toad: "4.5 I received this book for free in a giveaway. Thank you to the author. Only reasons it is not a true 5 star for me is I hate vernacular (even though this one was not as egregiously unreadable as others) and the last half was a bit outlandish imo. T" Read more of this review »
Apr 04, 2026 03:47PM · see review
Peter Fenton rated a book it was amazing American OZ: An Astonishing Year Inside Traveling Carnivals at State Fairs & Festivals: Hitchhiking From California to New York, Alaska to Mexico by Michael Sean Comerford (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Interesting take.
Mar 19, 2026 08:15AM · 1 like · like · see review
Peter Fenton rated a book really liked it The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook by Bruce D. Perry	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Fascinating, disturbing book. I work with adults experiencing a mental health crisis. Unfortunately, childhood trauma can have long-lasting effects, even into one's senior years. ...more
Feb 07, 2026 07:39PM · like · see review
Peter Fenton rated a book it was amazing Pulp: Charles Bukowski's Final Hardboiled Noir Comedy – Lady Death, Aliens, and the Absurd by Charles Bukowski	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Helped foster my love of all things sordid under the L.A. sun. Best read in some sleazy bar on Western Avenue. Used to buy beer at the same store as him in Redondo Beach.
Jan 01, 2026 11:15AM · like · see review