The Hoax [Preloaded Digital Audio Player]

Clifford Irving (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2006

The ultimate caper story, novelist Clifford Irving's no-holds-barred account of the literary hoax of our time--his "autobiography" of Howard Hughes--was published in Great Britain in 1997, where it became a bestseller. But no American hardcover house would touch THE HOAX until now. One major publisher offered a $500,000 advance when the book was nearing completion, drew up the contract?then abruptly bowed out. Why? The answer is implicit in this classic tale of daring, treachery, and corruption. As fast-paced and exciting as any spy novel, it involves the reader at every devilish twist and turn. In this first U.S. hardcover edition, Clifford Irving tells how the hoax developed, like a Chinese puzzle, from its madcap beginning to the final startling confession--a witty and nail-biting story of international intrigue and beautiful women, of powerful corporate executives and jet-set rogues, of cover-ups and headlines.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It is a story which reads like the best thriller fiction and which contains the seeds of a dozen movie scripts. Mysterious meetings, false passports, a beautiful Danish baroness, Swiss bank accounts-Alfred Hitchcock would handle the whole thing perfectly." --The Tatler (England) "Fascinating!" --Time "Brilliant!" --Newsday "A Masterpiece!" --CBS-Radio "Spellbinding!" --Publishers Weekly "Sensational!" --New York Daily News --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Born in Manhattan, Clifford Irving has traveled and lived throughout the world, is married, has three grown sons, and makes his home now on a beach in Mexico and on a Colorado mountainside, where he hugs trees, practices yoga, writes, and paints. Following his release from prison for perpetrating the Hughes Autobiography Hoax, he resumed his writing career. Visit him online at CliffordIrving.com. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Preloaded Digital Audio Player
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598955624
• ISBN-13: 978-1598955620
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• 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 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

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.