The Hoax: A Memoir

Before James Frey bogus biography of A Million Little Pieces, there was Clifford Irving! Now unlike Frey, Irving tried to write an autobiography of Howard Hughes. In the 1970, Irving was a hack spy novelist and Hughes was a reclusive millionaire who was in hiding. Irving prayed upon the Cloistered Hughes mythos, thinking that he would never come out and state Irving's book was a fake and a fraud. However the literary liar was exposed for what and who he was...And It didn't take Oprah to do it! Irving's biography showcased how he and a few other did a bogus con game on the publishing industry, which amazed many..and still does today. His book is a great tale of how he perpetrated his scam. This book read like a mystery story, but its all true. What amazes me is that it really happened. Narrative talent Joe Barrett is a marvel at creating verbal characters that seem real. I know I have never heard Clifford Irving speak... but in listening to him create Irving on audio, i assume I have. The biography is better on audio. It give this book more diamensions to this literary shell game and will amaze the audio listeners. Barrett tone is fast paced. I do not know who the director of this production was, but I would love to shake his/her hand on a job well done. The Hoax is no lie..it is a true chance to hear a con man spit cider in your ear as he did with the press and the publishing industry in the 1970's. In the audio format, this memoir makes the listener a willing partner on the plans and keeps you riveted like a great mystery novel, but its actually happened. Don't be fooled, the Hoax is not a fix at all. It is a sure bet to get on audio Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

Love him or hate him, Clifford Irving sure can write. The Hoax is an absolute page turner from start to finish; I am about three quarters of of the way through the book and counting the minutes until I can return home and dive into it again. Clifford Irving lived an incredible life even before turning to forgery: living on a houseboat in Kashmir, living in Mexico, a couple of European wives, an internationally famous mistress, and then fleecing a major US corporation. It is just a great read!

I was a young person at the time of the world-wide controversy surrounding the publication of the Hughes "autobiography," and needless to say it was front-page news. By this time Hughes had not been seen or heard from by the public for more than a decade and many people felt he was dead, perhaps in an accident around the time he "disappeared." And in the shroud of mystery emerges a book on his life that Hughes granted the author - Irving - unprecedented access through a series of interviews on his life. Then came the debate on the validity of the book, which was only solved by the eccentric billionaire ending his silence - not in front of a camera, but through a long-distance phone call to a panel of journalists who knew Hughes from years past. I purchased The Hoax as one who was absolutely fascinated in how Irving nearly pulled off the crime. And if it wasn't for the phone call by Hughes to state the book was a fraud it can be argued that the debate would have continued for years, but Irving's deception would have been successful. The reality was Irving believed Hughes was too ill to repudiate the book. The Hoax remains one of the favorite books I ever read.

I had avoided reading this book, although several friends recommended it. Finally I read it, because there's a movie coming out soon (Richard Gere plays Irving) based on the events. I discovered that it's an amazing story about a man who defied and bilked the literary establishment and the Howard Hughes hierarchy and at the same time -- this was in 1972 -- enraged Richard Nixon's White House and may indeed have been the prime reason that the Nixon gang broke into the Watergate (to find out if Irving had given the Democrats secret information about Hughes' "loans" to Nixon). Yes, Irving was a rogue, but what a delightful and literate rogue. Moreover, the book is one of the best written first-person narratives I've ever read; it's wise and witty at the same time as it's a gripping tale. People wonder if Irving told the truth in the book. I believe it has an unmistakeable ring of truth. You can't fake that, ever. Clifford Irving's many novels are next on my list.

This book has the ring of truth to it, and that is unmistakeable. It's the story of a writer who hoodwinked the world by writing the hoax autobiography of billionaire Howard Hughes, and paid the price by going to prison. It reads like a novel, in the sense that it's thrilling, and you understand Clifford Irving to the bone. It's well-paced, filled with memorable characters and incidents, and if there were ever a book to nail down the sin of greed in both individuals and corporations, this is it. I loved it.