Fakers: Hoaxers, Con Artists, Counterfeiters, and Other Great Pretenders.

(Hardback)

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Description

A fascinating exploration of the varieties of faking, from its historical root in satire and con artistry to its current boom in popularity. Including tales from the New York Sun's 1835 moon hoax, to Maliszewski's own satiric letters which he duplicitously sent to his editor whilst working as a reporter, and the invented poet Ern Malley, he explains why fakers almost always find believers and flourish. Since 1997, the author has researched fakers, asking why they disembled and how believers were fooled. Fakers exposes much about belief, forgery and truth.

Reviews

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 Darlings

Here 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 Whats the Matter with Kansas

Author Bio

Paul Maliszewski has published his fiction and essays in Bookforum, Harpers, Granta, and the Paris Review, and his stories have twice received a Pushcart Prize. Fakers is his first book. He lives in Washington, D.C.