Synopses & Reviews
For anyone who has ever lied or been lied to true-life tales about faking, from Clifford Irving to Stephen Glass, by an award-winning writer.
Fakers are believed and, at least for a time, celebrated because they each promise us, screen-gazing and experience-starved, something real and authentic, a view, however fleeting, of a great thing rarely glimpsed. from Fakers
From James Frey and his fake memories of drug-addled dissolution to Stephen Glass and his fake dispatches from the fringes of politics to the author formerly known as JT LeRoy and his fake rural tough talk, we are beset by real-seeming fiction masquerading as truth. We are living in the era of the fake.
Fakersis a fascinating exploration of the varieties of faking, from its historical roots in satire and con artistry to its current boom. Paul Maliszewski journeys into the heart of our fake world, telling tales of the New York Sun's 1835 moon hoax, the invented poet Ern Malley (the inspiration for Peter Carey's novel My Life as a Fake), and Maliszewski's own satiric letters to the editor of the Business Journal of Central New York (written, unbeknownst to the editor, while he worked there as a reporter). Through these stories, he explains why fakers almost always find believers and often flourish.
Since 1997, the author has been on the trail of fakers and believers, asking the tricksters why they dissembled and the believers why they were ever fooled. Fakers tells us much about what we believe and want, why we trust, and why we still get duped.
The essays in Fakers explore:
- Jayson Blair's faked New York Timesstories, about Jessica Lynch and much else
- Early American con artists
- Oscar Hartzell and the long-running Drake's fortune scam Internet hoaxes about man-eating bears
- Han van Meegeren's forged Vermeers
- Clifford Irving's fake autobiography of Howard Hughes
- Michael Chabon's fictionalized version of his early years
- Binjamin Wilkomirski's fabricated Holocaust memoir
- In-depth interviews with three fakers: journalist Michael Finkel, painter Sandow Birk, and performance artist Joey Skaggs
Review
Every year, another scandal! The Pentagon fakes the story of captured soldier Jessica Lynch; the New Republic discovers that reporter Stephen Glass made up all or part of 21 stories; Oprah first book, we learn also of his own faked letters to the editor and advice columns when he was working for an upstate New York financial journal in the 1990s. What he wrote was accepted and published without comment; it reinforced the says he created his own correspondents to lesson about our vulnerability to falsehood: we presented as story, and not (usually) what intriguing and engaging book of essays. Rather, Maliszewski tells lively stories about fakers past and present, spiced by his own observations on why faking works. There are interviews with journalist Michael Finkel (he invented Youssouf Male, an African wage slave, for the New York Times), painter Sandow Birk, and performance artist Joey Skaggs. A good book, enlightening but of modest proportions, it is recommended for general collections.
Review
Not only is
Fakers beautifully written and fun to read, but it is tremendously useful. It explains clearly and with perfectly chosen examples just what the distinction is between pointed pranks and lazy fabrications, and between satire and malice. And unlike previous efforts on the subject, this one is entirely in favor of the imagination.” — Luc Sante, author of
Low Life and
Kill All Your DarlingsHere it is, the one true guide to the world of forgery. Paul Maliszewski shows us how to distinguish the masterpieces from the frauds, the inspired fakes from the merely counterfeit, tossing off along the way a few gemlike examples of the former. This is a perfect book for our pompous, authenticity-grubbing times.” — Thomas Frank, author of The Wrecking Crew and What’s the Matter with Kansas?
Synopsis
For anyone who has ever lied'"or been lied to'"True-life tales about faking, from Clifford Irving to Stephen Glass, by an award-winning writer.
Synopsis
Why would two poets invent a fake writer, complete with a fake oeuvre and compelling life story, and then submit their fabrication to a literary magazine? Why might a biographer claim to have interviewed Howard Hughes and collaborated on the reclusive billionaire’s autobiography despite never having met him? Why would a journalist concoct an eight-year-old junkie and then write an article about him, later winning a Pulitzer Prize for her invention? Why might memoirists pretend to be a Holocaust survivor, a gang member, and a recovered addict with a prison record? And why do we believe such wild fictions that masquerade as the truth? Why are we forever getting fooled by frauds?
Paul Maliszewski explores the teeming varieties of fakery, from its historical roots in satire and con artistry to its current boom, starring James Frey and his false memories of drug-addled dissolution and the author formerly known as JT LeRoy with his fake rural tough talk. Journeying into the heart of our fake world, Maliszewski tells tales of the New York Sun’s 1835 moon hoax as well as his own satiric contributions to a newspaper—pieces written, unbeknownst to its editor, while the author worked there as a reporter. For anyone who has ever lied or been lied to, Fakers tells us much about what we believe and why we still get conned.
The essays in Fakers explore:
- Jayson Blair’s faked New York Times stories, about Jessica Lynch and much else
- Early American con artists
- Oscar Hartzell and the longrunning Drake’s fortune scam
- Internet hoaxes about man-eating bears
- Han van Meegeren’s forged Vermeers
- Clifford Irving’s fake autobiography of Howard Hughes
- Michael Chabon’s fictionalized version of his early years
- Binjamin Wilkomirski’s fabricated Holocaust memoir
- In-depth interviews with three fakers: journalist Michael Finkel, painter Sandow Birk, and performance artist Joey Skaggs
About the Author
Paul Maliszewski has published his fiction and essays in Bookforum, Harper's, Granta, and the Paris Review, and his stories have twice received a Pushcart Prize. Fakersis his first book. He lives in Washington, D.C.