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The publishing industry has been rife with scandal in recent years. We’ve all been told how competitive the market is, but lately it seems like some writers will quite literally do anything — lie, cheat, or steal — in order to see their books in print.
Did I Type Life? I Meant Lie.
The phenomenon started with James Frey and his supposed memoir A Million Little Pieces. After getting all kinds of recognition, including the nod from Oprah, Frey’s book was discovered to be filled with lies.
But why would someone decide to write a bunch of lies? After a little more sleuthing, it came to light that Frey had originally pitched his book as fiction, but that it wouldn’t sell. In order to make the story more compelling — to editors as well as readers — Frey then repackaged it as nonfiction.
Fast forward to 2008, and here we are again — except this time, one fake memoir has become two. In late February, Misha Defonseca admitted that she lied about being Jewish, being a Holocaust survivor, and being raised by wolves. One week later, Margaret B. Jones, a.k.a. Margaret Seltzer, was outed by her sister when she tried to pass a fiction of foster care and gang activity off as her real childhood.
Jones’s book never made it to the stands, but Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years is another story. The book has circled the world in 18 different languages, and the author was once awarded $22.5 in damages when she took her publisher to court for breach of contract (!). To add insult to injury, the French have made a film about Misha’s remarkable LIFE, only to find out the F was in there by accident. Read More »
All my favorite people — Lindsay, Britney, Nicole, even Marc Jacobs!– seem to be going or have gone to rehab. My question is: When can I go?? From what I’m reading these days, rehab is like the new hot club you have to wait an hour on line to get into, only to be rejected at the door because you’re not cool or famous enough.
