098.3 KAT Literary Hoaxes: An Eye Opening History of Famous Frauds

This seems like it should be a fascinating area to write about: From the fabricated Shakespeare documents that took in Charles and Mary Lamb in the 19th century to James Frey’s “memoir” in the twenty-first century, there’s a lot to write about. As it turns out, though, most of the stories aren’t that interesting. JT Leroy’s story is interesting to read, but despite his fame, James Frey turns out to be not that interesting. Clifford Irving’s Howard Hughes memoir hoax was another interesting story, although better told by Irving himself in The Hoax, later made into a film with Richard Gere. Overall, the book could have been better executed had Katsoulis been more selective in what she chose to include.