Buzz
The recipe for a successful book remains a mystery. Could it be the depth of detail, or maybe its absence? Is it the raw, candid language, concise phrasing, or an unconventional plot? While the answer is delightfully unclear, one thing is certain: dedication is crucial for a book's triumph.
Well, almost everyone. Occasionally, a daring author emerges with grand ambitions and a cunning plan, fooling both critics and readers. While many believe honesty is paramount, these 10 literary tricksters clearly thought otherwise.
10. Naked Came The Stranger
In 1969, a team of reporters from Long Island Newsday collaborated to write *Naked Came the Stranger*. Frustrated by the popularity of poorly crafted, sensational novels, they aimed to expose the public's taste for low-quality literature. Editor Mike McGrady spearheaded the project, crafting the novel's scandalous storyline to make their point.
The story revolved around a suburban woman's numerous sexual encounters, with each chapter detailing a new affair, often with a different partner. The reporters, aware of the overarching plot, each contributed a chapter, intentionally creating inconsistencies in the narrative. Submissions that were too polished were outright rejected to maintain the intended tone.
McGrady's sister-in-law assumed the role of the fictional author, Penelope Ashe, described as a modest Long Island homemaker who believed she could rival J. Susann's writing. She even participated in photo shoots and meetings with publishers to maintain the ruse.
The book sold 20,000 copies before the truth was revealed. Despite this, it spent 13 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list by the end of 1969. The hoax garnered global attention, turning *Naked Came the Stranger* into an unexpected success.
9. I, Libertine
During the 1950s, Jean Shepherd hosted a late-night radio program that cultivated a fiercely devoted audience. He affectionately referred to his fans as “night people,” as they consistently tuned in to his unconventional broadcasts during the late hours. Shepherd’s appeal extended to non-conformists, including members of the Beat movement, jazz musicians, and young creatives. Even Jack Kerouac was among his admirers.
One day, Shepherd visited a bookstore in search of a specific book. Unable to locate it, he sought assistance from the clerk, who insisted the book didn’t exist since it wasn’t listed in any publisher’s catalog. Convinced of its reality, Shepherd’s imagination took flight. With the support of his “night people,” he orchestrated an elaborate media prank targeting the so-called “day people” and New York pretension.
Shepherd urged his listeners to visit their local bookstores and request a non-existent book titled I, Libertine, supposedly written by Frederick R. Ewing. They fabricated details about Ewing, portraying him as a retired Royal Navy commander with expertise in 18th-century erotica, who had allegedly hosted a BBC series on the topic.
Shepherd’s listeners eagerly followed his instructions, leading to a surge of bookstore customers inquiring about I, Libertine. The demand even spread internationally, as some of his fans traveled for work. Puzzled booksellers reached out to publishers for information, and libraries started placing orders for this enigmatic title.
The prank escalated further. A student submitted a paper on I, Libertine and earned a “B+.” Fans created catalog cards for the book and distributed them to libraries nationwide. A New York gossip columnist claimed to have dined with the supposed author. The non-existent novel even appeared in The New York Times Book Review as a newly published work.
8. My Own Sweet Time
My Own Sweet Time was presented as an autobiography by Wanda Koolmatrie, a part-Aboriginal woman. The book chronicled her upbringing in South Australia with white foster parents and won the Dobbie Award for a debut novel by a female author. It was also included in the New South Wales HSC English curriculum in 1996.
However, as you might’ve guessed, it was later revealed that My Own Sweet Time was actually written by a white male named Leon Carmen. In 1997, Carmen admitted to writing this award-winning novel, causing quite an uproar in Australia’s literary establishment. The front page headline of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph dubbed Carmen as the “Great White Hoax,” the book was withdrawn from sales, and the award money was retrieved. Even Carmen’s agent was raided by police.
Trying to justify his motives, Carmen said that Australians discriminate against white men. According to the hoaxer, critics and readers instead preferred female, aboriginal, and immigrant-descended writers.
7. The Hand That Signed The Paper
The highly successful novel, The Hand that Signed the Paper, was written by Helen Demidenko, a woman who claimed to be of Ukrainian heritage. The plot of the novel is centered on a Ukrainian family whose members participated in the Holocaust. Demidenko claimed she relied heavily on her father’s memories of what the Ukrainian famine was like. In addition to surviving such a calamity, her dad was also supposedly an illiterate taxi driver.
In 1993, the manuscript secured the Vogel Award for unpublished young authors and was published by Allen & Unwin in 1994. The Hand that Signed the Paper swiftly garnered the Miles Franklin Award and a gold medal from the Australian Society for the Study of Australian Literature.
Despite its success, the novel faced criticism for its anti-Semitic undertones. The controversy deepened when Demidenko’s true identity was exposed. She was revealed to be the daughter of British immigrants, and her real name was Helen Darville, not Helen Demidenko.
In 2006, Darville—now using her married name, Dale—provided a detailed account of the scandal. She asserted that she wrote The Hand that Signed the Paper to shield her source, a terminally ill Ukrainian war criminal. Additionally, she admitted the book was a hoax targeting the political left, whom she viewed as lacking conviction.
6. The Diamond Club
A contemporary counterpart to Naked Came the Stranger, The Diamond Club is an e-book attributed to Patricia Harkins-Bradley but was actually crafted by Justin Young and Brian Brushwood of the NSFW Show podcast. The plot was crowdsourced from their audience, who were encouraged to include explicit content. The book soared to number four on the iTunes bestseller list, trailing only the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.
Brushwood, who had previously authored books like Scam School Book 1: Smoke and Scam School Book 2: Fire, grew frustrated with how his second book was overshadowed by titles mimicking Fifty Shades of Grey knockoffs.
Determined to make a point, Brushwood and Young orchestrated what they termed a “social experiment.” The Diamond Club became a hit, earning over $17,000 in just three days despite its 99-cent price tag. Many readers were unaware of the hoax and left authentic, glowing reviews.
5. The Autobiography Of Howard Hughes
In 1971, Clifford Irving, an accomplished author, conceived the idea of crafting a fabricated autobiography for Howard Hughes, the reclusive billionaire who had vanished from public view for 15 years. Banking on Hughes’s isolation, Irving assumed the billionaire wouldn’t step forward to debunk the fraudulent book.
To persuade publisher McGraw-Hill of the project’s authenticity, Irving forged letters allegedly from Hughes, mimicking handwriting from a Newsweek article. The fabricated letters stated Hughes was willing to collaborate with Irving on a biography, but insisted on secrecy. Hughes wanted Irving to handle all matters, including finances. Irving’s friend, Dick Suskind, was tasked with the “research.”
McGraw-Hill and Irving agreed that Hughes would receive $750,000, while Irving would pocket $100,000. Irving’s wife, Edith, traveled to Switzerland to open an account under the name “Helga R. Hughes,” where the $750,000 was deposited. Over time, Edith withdrew funds and transported them to the couple’s farmhouse on the Spanish island of Ibiza, where Irving concealed the illicit earnings.
Initially, Irving proposed the book as a series of interviews with Hughes, but he and Suskind later decided an autobiography would be more compelling. They forged another note from Hughes approving the change. The manuscript, filled with extravagant tales—such as Hughes participating in secret RAF missions during World War II—was submitted to McGraw-Hill. Astonishingly, no one questioned its authenticity.
As the book’s release approached, Frank McCulloch, a Time-Life journalist who had interviewed Hughes 14 years earlier, received a call from someone claiming to be Hughes. The caller denied collaborating with Irving. Although the call was genuine, McCulloch, after reviewing the manuscript, concluded the book was authentic and dismissed the call as a hoax.
However, just before the book’s release, Hughes held a televised press conference from his Bahamian hotel. Irving insisted the voice wasn’t Hughes’s, but Swiss authorities uncovered that the “Helga R. Hughes” bank account belonged to Irving’s wife. Dick Suskind received a six-month prison sentence, while Irving was jailed for two years. His wife was also sentenced to two years but was released after just two months.
4. The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things And Sarah
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things and Sarah were attributed to J.T. LeRoy, a literary phenomenon in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His works were semi-autobiographical, drawing from his tumultuous upbringing. As a child, LeRoy allegedly worked as an underage transvestite prostitute alongside his drug-addicted mother, also a prostitute. He became addicted to heroin and was homeless on San Francisco’s streets by age 13.
LeRoy claimed his first sexual experience occurred around age five or six, and he endured regular abuse and assault. His life changed when a social worker introduced him to a psychologist, who encouraged him to write. LeRoy discovered a talent for storytelling.
At 17, LeRoy published his first piece in the anthology “Close to the Bone: Memoirs of Hurt, Rage, and Desire,” which depicted him dressing as his mother and seducing her boyfriend. In 2000, he released the novel Sarah, followed by the short story collection The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things in 2001. The books received widespread acclaim, and LeRoy befriended celebrities. Though initially reclusive, he eventually made public appearances.
However, it was soon revealed that LeRoy was a pseudonym for Laura Albert, a married woman 15 years older than the fictional persona. Public appearances were made by her sister-in-law, Savannah Knoop. Despite the deception, Albert’s writing was deeply personal. Like LeRoy, Albert suffered abuse as a child and spent her teenage years in a state-run group home.
3. The Voyage And Travels Of Sir John Mandeville, Knight
The Voyage and Travels of Sir John Mandeville, Knight was attributed to Sir John Mandeville, hailed as the Middle Ages’ greatest traveler. The book was immensely popular, becoming a cultural staple in 11 languages for over five centuries. It served as a pilgrim’s guide to Jerusalem, with the first section detailing the Holy Lands and the second exploring regions beyond Palestine.
It has since been revealed that the stories in The Voyage and Travels of Sir John Mandeville, Knight were actually borrowed and adapted from the accounts of real travelers. These tales were then enhanced with Mandeville's own imaginative additions. As a result, there is no concrete evidence to confirm whether Mandeville ever embarked on any travels.
Within the pages of the book, Sir John portrays himself as a knight from St. Albans, yet his true identity remains a mystery. Jean d’Outremeuse, a 14th-century chronicler from Liege, claimed that the real author was a physician named Jean de Bourgogne. Some even suspected d’Outremeuse of being the true writer. However, these theories have been disproven, leaving the authorship of the book an unsolved enigma.
2. Renowned Across the City
Authored by Danny Santiago, Famous All Over Town delves into the life of East Los Angeles. The 1983 novel was celebrated for its insightful portrayal of the challenges faced by Mexican-American culture. Its literary excellence was recognized in 1984 when it received the Rosenthal Award, an honor presented by the American Academy and Institute of Arts.
The book might have faced more scrutiny had it been widely known that Santiago was actually Daniel Lewis James, a Yale alumnus and the son of a prosperous Kansas businessman. He also collaborated with Charlie Chaplin on the screenplay for The Great Dictator. At one point, James was a member of the Communist Party. During the 1940s and 1950s, as anti-communist sentiment swept through Hollywood, both James and his wife were summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Soon after, James found himself relegated to scripting low-budget films before vanishing entirely from the film industry. He then dedicated the next 25 years of his life to serving as a church social worker in East Los Angeles. Immersed in the vibrant Latin culture, he found inspiration to write under the pseudonym Danny Santiago. The publication of his stories was a stroke of serendipity. James and his wife had leased a Hollywood home from author John Gregory Dunne, who, upon discovering the stories, forwarded them to his New York agent.
Ironically, it was Dunne who revealed the truth in a 1984 article for The New York Times Review of Books. Despite the exposure, James felt a sense of relief, as it allowed him to openly discuss his literary works without pretense.
1. Fragments
Binjamin Wilkomirski’s Fragments is a gripping memoir recounting his early years spent in the Nazi concentration camps of Majdanek and Auschwitz. Released in 1995, the book created a significant stir in Germany. It was soon translated into 12 languages and published in the UK and the US by 1996. The memoir earned prestigious accolades, including the National Jewish Book Award in the US, the Jewish Quarterly Literary Prize in the UK, and the Prix de Memoire de la Shoah in France.
The memoir narrates the harrowing tale of a young Jewish boy whose family was brutally killed in Riga, Latvia. After the tragedy, he was transported to Polish death camps, where he endured the horrors of war and the unspeakable conditions of the camps. Post-war, he was sent to a Swiss orphanage and later adopted by a Swiss family. The book captivated readers and critics alike, achieving high sales and widespread acclaim. Wilkomirski traveled globally, sharing his story with moved audiences, journalists, and interviewers.
However, doubts arose when Daniel Ganzfried, a Swiss Jewish writer who had documented his father’s Auschwitz experiences, interviewed Wilkomirski. Sensing inconsistencies in Wilkomirski’s account, Ganzfried investigated further. His research uncovered that Wilkomirski was actually born in a small Swiss village near Berne. His unmarried mother had placed him in an orphanage, where he was adopted and raised in Zurich.
The truth emerged: Wilkomirski was neither Latvian nor Jewish, and his name was fabricated. His real identity was Bruno Dossekker, and he had never set foot in a concentration camp. Ganzfried’s revelations, published in a Swiss newspaper, led to Dossekker’s emotional collapse. He remained silent in the face of the allegations, and the public soon recognized his memoir as a work of fiction.
