Author's memoir revealed as fake

[KeithTalent]

How the hell do people think they can get away with crap like this:

In "Love and Consequences," a critically acclaimed memoir published last week, Margaret B. Jones wrote about her life as a half-white, half-Native American girl growing up in South-Central Los Angeles as a foster child among gang-bangers, running drugs for the Bloods.

The problem is that none of it is true.

A little sibling rivalry rearing its ugly head?

Seltzer's older sister, Cyndi Hoffman, saw the article and called Riverhead to tell editors that Seltzer's story was untrue.

Linkage

This is why I question pretty much everything I read these days. People are so quick to generate stories and pass them off as their own, it makes me sick. In fact the attached article mentions two of the more egregious offenders in recent history. :disgust:

I'm surprised publishing houses do not go into further detail with their fact-checking because stuff like this just makes them look foolish.

KT

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

I made a comment the other day in a thread about something. My statement was "Don't believe everything you see and read". So much bullshit running through our TV's, airwaves, and documents, who knows what's fact and what's fiction.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
I made a comment the other day in a thread about something. My statement was "Don't believe everything you see and read". So much bullshit running through our TV's, airwaves, and documents, who knows what's fact and what's fiction.

Completely agree. I had started feeling this way about news reports quite a while back, but I had always thought non-fiction writers were always fact-checked a little more closely, due partly to the amount of time they have to research. Apparently that is not the case.

KT

 

[Mrvile]

How is the book as a work of fiction? True or not (and it does suck that she lied), it could still make for an entertaining read.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
How is the book as a work of fiction? True or not (and it does suck that she lied), it could still make for an entertaining read.

Good question. It does sounds like a compelling read, but I can't imagine actually paying money for it now that I know what's behind it.

KT

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
How is the book as a work of fiction? True or not (and it does suck that she lied), it could still make for an entertaining read.

if its put out as something that is true and it comes back as a fake yeah i can see them pulling it or at least changing where it is put heh.

but i would hav ea problem reading a story that is sopposed to be true when the person lied.

 

[lozina]

That's weird, I just saw mention on the news I think yesterday of some other author's memoir's faked:

http://www.boston.com/ae/books...=Well_MostPop_Emailed4

What is this, fake memoir week ?

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: lozina
That's weird, I just saw mention on the news I think yesterday of some other author's memoir's faked:

http://www.boston.com/ae/books...=Well_MostPop_Emailed4

What is this, fake memoir week ?

That's a fascinating story. I'll be interested to see how it plays out.

I wonder if there is a market for a dedicated fact-checking company so publishers, and other businesses, can avoid this type of thing. I assume there are companies that do this already, just not very well it seems.

KT

 

[MrChad]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Frey

Not the first time its happened.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Whether or not it's true really has no effect on the content of the story.

 

[Queasy]

Fake but Accurate.

 

[zinfamous]

Hopefully this will help kill the recent trend in publishing ridiculous and pointless memoirs. Force writers to get back to doing something creative (hehe, ironic that the ones that make the news are the most creative).

 

[Lazy8s]

She chronicled her experiences making drug deliveries for gang leaders at age 13 and how she was given her first gun as a birthday present when she was 14. Seltzer told The Times last week, "One of the first things I did once I started making drug money was to buy a burial plot."

Seriously, THAT didn't give it away!? At 13 she bought a burial plot?? What 13y.o. would freaking do that when they werre running drugs and making a killing?

Also, it's the biography of her pseudonym, or course it's fake....just like the name she uses when she writes. She lies in every book she prints (her name) so why would this one be any different?

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
Whether or not it's true really has no effect on the content of the story.

Often I will approach a book of fiction differently than a non-fiction book. How I would approach a work of fiction passed off as non-fiction, well I don't know. Does it change the actual content? Of course not, but it does change my perception of it.

KT

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
Whether or not it's true really has no effect on the content of the story.

i agree

same stance on took on the Million little pieces book

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: joshsquall
Whether or not it's true really has no effect on the content of the story.

Often I will approach a book of fiction differently than a non-fiction book. How I would approach a work of fiction passed off as non-fiction, well I don't know. Does it change the actual content? Of course not, but it does change my perception of it.

KT

i agree. it doesn't change the content, but it sure as hell changes my perception on it.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: joshsquall
Whether or not it's true really has no effect on the content of the story.

Often I will approach a book of fiction differently than a non-fiction book. How I would approach a work of fiction passed off as non-fiction, well I don't know. Does it change the actual content? Of course not, but it does change my perception of it.

KT

i agree. it doesn't change the content, but it sure as hell changes my perception on it.

like Lazy8s said, the content of any book written under a pseudonym should be taken with a grain of salt.