The Hoax [Import] [Paperback]

Clifford Irving (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 85 pages
• Publisher: Mandarin Books (1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749300744
• ISBN-13: 978-0749300746
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Clifford Irving is the author of twenty published books, half a dozen of them New York Times best-sellers, including "Fake!", "Trial", "Final Argument", and "Tom Mix and Pancho Villa", and several screenplays. His most famous book was the hoax "Autobiography of Howard Hughes" which brought the billionaire out of seclusion and landed the author in three U.S. prisons. He traveled three times around the world before most people living in it today were born, and was recently the subject of The Clifford Irving Show at the Cine 13 theater in Paris. Yet he may be one of the last professional people on this planet who has no cell phone.

The New York Times Book Review said: "Clifford Irving is a born storyteller." The L.A. Times called him "a master." In 1986 William Safire named "Trial" "the novel of the year." "Fake!" is the super-sophisticated tale of the most successful art forger of the 20th century, a gay Hungarian whose Picassos and Matisses hang in art collections worldwide. Many people believe the Hughes autobiography caused the Watergate break-in and the downfall of Richard Nixon.

In mid-December 2011, Clifford's oldest son, Josh, a computer geek, will create a unique publishing event. Twelve of Clifford's books, published and unpublished, will be made available simultaneously on Kindle. And soon you'll find the author on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. (Josh twisted his arm.)

He was born in Manhattan, went to the High School of Music & Art and Cornell University, lived for nearly two decades on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Ibiza, has been married more times than he cares to think about, has three grown sons, has lectured worldwide on subjects as diverse as the art market and the justice system, counts among his finest achievements earning a draw against the chess champion of Spain and 25 years ago driving in the winning run in the annual Artists v Writers Softball Game in East Hampton, NY.

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

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Whodunit From The One Who Did It, August 23, 2006

By 

Bicycle Day - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Hoax (Paperback)

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.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth is more Complex than Falsity, August 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hoax (Hardcover)

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.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible thrilling true tale, August 12, 2006

By 

JVB (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hoax (Paperback)

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.