Fake: The Story of Elmyr de Hory the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time [Paperback]

Clifford Irving (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Dell (1971)
• ASIN: B00294XN2W
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,292,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clifford Irving is the author of 20 published books, among them New York Times best-sellers Fake!, Trial, and Final Argument. Richard Gere starred as Clifford in the movie version of Hoax, the story of Clifford's most famous book, the Autobiography of Howard Hughes, which forced the billionaire out of seclusion, caused the downfall of Richard Nixon, and earned the writer 16 months in three federal prisons.

The L.A. Times called Clifford Irving "a master," and Thomas Keneally (Schindler's List) lauded Irving's The Angel of Zin as "absolutely compelling, a totally engrossing thriller."

This February 2012, as a birthday present, his computer-savvy son, Josh, has created a unique event - 12 of Clifford's works, published and unpublished, will be available simultaneously on Kindle, at remarkably low prices. 12 for 2012.

They include Clifford's thrilling prison journal, Jailing, excerpted in Playboy but withheld in full until now;

I Remember Amnesia, a new courtroom novel set in dangerous, glitzy East Hampton; Fake!, the sophisticated true tale of the most prolific art forger of the 20th century (think forged Picasso, Modigliani, and Matisse in top museums); best-sellers Trial and Final Argument, and, of course, the amazing Autobiography of Howard Hughes, never published in the USA except by a private printing rare enough to sell in hardback for $350, when you can find one.

These are bargain-priced, can't-put-down reads by the famous writer the New York Times Book Review praised as "a born storyteller."

He now lives with his Aussie wife in the Colorado Rockies, on the edge of a forest where he cuts firewood, paints, tends his flower garden, is regularly stumped by hard sudoku puzzles, and is writing a memoir called "Around the World in 80 Years."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific read, January 26, 2008

By 

Craig Clarke "Living After Midnight: Hard and... (New England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Fake! The Story of Elmyr De Hory, the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time (Hardcover)

Subtitled The Story of Elmyr de Hory, the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time, Fake! is the only kind of true-crime book I can get into: not the story of a murderer, but of a classy kind of con artist.

As any fan of Orson Welles's F for Fake will already know, Elmyr de Hory was responsible for a real shake-up in the art community. For decades, he sold all over the world paintings of his own as the work of old masters. But his story never reads as a mean-spirited attempt to get rich, mostly due to the approach.

Author Clifford Irving (who would, just a few years after writing this book, pull off his own fake -- with the fictional Autobiography of Howard Hughes) portrays Elmyr as a sympathetic figure. He only did it when he needed money; when he was flush, he focused on his own art career, and never painted in others' styles during those periods.

Sadly, his own career never took off, and so he was repeatedly forced to go back into his particular bag of tricks and produce works in the styles of Picasso, Modigliani, Derain, Renoir, and others until he was finally caught, though he was never convicted due to what was essentially a technicality. Elmyr always claimed to have never signed any of the paintings (although his business partners may have) which keeps the paintings from being outright forgeries.

Fake! is a terrific book. Part biography, part crime story, part world travelogue, and probably part fiction, it remains wholly engaging and eminently readable.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FAVORITE CLIFFORD IRVING BOOK!, January 19, 2012

By 

Boiler Bay - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fake: The Story of Elmyr de Hory the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time (Paperback)

I am a Clifford Irving fan, and this is one of my very favorite Irving books. The story of art forger Elmyr de Hory is a fascinating one. It is obvious that Irving has a strong art background as he is able to explain in detail how de Hory succeeded in duping the art world with his "fakes". Irving met de Hory when they both lived on the island of Ibiza, and, in addition to the intriguing story of de Hory's ability to perfectly recreate well known and coveted works of art, Irving entertains with his stories of life on Ibiza. I really loved this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE, LOVE THIS BOOK, December 25, 2011

By 

DaNA1dEB - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fake! The Story of Elmyr De Hory, the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time (Hardcover)

THIS BOOK HAS TAUGHT ME TO APPRECIATE MY OWN FAKES.. YOU NEVER CAN BE QUITE SURE .IF THE REAL THING IS THE REAL THING .. EVEN BY EXPERTS. ..IT TURNED THE ART WORLD UP-SIDE-DOWN. G0T THIS BOOK AT A GARAGE SALE, AND GLAD I DID.
A REVIEWER , I AM NOT. BUT I KNOW WHAT I ENJOY.