Customer Reviews

The Hoax

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I read this book many years ago, and loved it, and bought this new paperback edition as gifts for many of my friends. I haven't seen the Richard Gere movie yet but I can't believe it will measure up to the quality of the writing and the amazing edge-of-your-seat and yet literate caper tale that Mr. Irving relates. I know he's meant to be a rogue, but I also know he's one of our best living writers, who has written some splendid novels (including "Trial", "Tom Mix and Pancho Villa," and the great art forgery tale, "Fake.") This current book, a first-person account of the Howard Hughes Hoax back in the 70s, is the way memoirs are meant to be written: from the heart, witty, with not a word out of place. You read this and you think, "I'd like to know this man." He's wise and droll and he's led an adventurous life that few of us even dream of. You can't go wrong, in my opinion, with a Clifford Irving book, and this is one of his best.

The drama of this tale makes it a page turner (or in the case of an audiobook a long-listener). Yet it is, at its center, somewhat unsatisfying because the author and main character seems blissfully unaware of how his behavior might affect others. As he flies around the world on his mad adventure, enjoying his extramarital affairs with seemingly little reflection as his wife is committing bank fraud for him at home, he lies to friends and business partners as if the whole matter were out of his control.

The amazing coincidences, strokes of luck and close calls are the stuff of great fiction. As the author writes himself into his own movie, his fictional autobiography and the fiction he must create for the people at McGraw Hill become simply two parts of one elaborate writing project. As you see him encounter one close call after another, you want him to get away with it, yet you know that there is only one possible outcome. He's going to be caught.

The book becomes much less satisfying as it moves into Irving's downward trajectory as his hoax is unraveled and the consequences loom, as it certainly was for the author. The pain inflicted on his wife through both the legal ramifications of the hoax and the revelation of Irving's affairs are difficult to read. Irving does express remorse for that and for lying to one or two friends, but in general he seems to view his hoax as a victimless joke.

McGraw Hill is a corporation done in by greed in his tale, and the people who were duped and whose reputations surely took a beating, most likely would find that compounded by this book. Their crime was believing Irving and standing behind him, and for that the author says at one point that he sometimes thought he should cheer about what he had done-- that he had exposed the limits of corporate greed and stupidity.

I was especially bothered by way one of the editors, a woman who he chose as his first patsy because she had been loyal to him throughout his career, was voiced in the audio book edition. While it is difficult for an actor to differentiate between all the character's voices, I found it distracting that this publishing professional spoke like a bubble-headed valley girl. She may not have come across as quite so unintelligent and easily fooled in the Irving text, as she did in the audio version in which she spoke like an unreflective teenager discussing the latest MTV reality show. This seemed particularly unfair to this listener.

So why were the McGraw Hill team so easily hoodwinked? I do not believe it was a simple case of greed and corporate stupidity. There was certainly some group-think and excitement over possibly having the coup of their careers might have clouded their judgement. But they were fooled for the same reason the story fascinates the reader-- who would have the audacity to claim to have written the autobiography of a living person and think they could get away with it? Only someone truly crazy would think that the living person and his organization would ignore such a thing. The unlikeliness of such a scenario is bound to make people believe. The lie is more credible than the truth.

In the end, I was left with the feeling that the damage his caper caused to other people (with the exceptions of his wife and children) was more fictional to the author than the Howard Hughes he created in his mind.

When he is asked if he would do it again, he says he would not. But his remorse is not for others. He says he would not repeat his fraud because "I have lost too much."

I was taken by the audacity and cleverness of the hoax, and propelled by the drama, I would like to have had a more sympathetic main character. Of course, that is a lot to ask from a book by someone with the personality to pull such a thing in the first place.

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!

Clifford Irving certainly knows how to spin a yarn. Once you get into this book, it's hard to put it down, even if you know the outcome. In fact, it's even more difficult to stop reading when you know exactly what's going to happen. During the last few chapters, as Irving is plummeting to his doom, the tension is almost unbearable.

I originally picked up this book because after I had seen the movie I was left with a lingering question. What motivated Clifford Irving to pull the biggest literary hoax of the century? Lack of success, as implied in the movie, simply didn't seem to be enough reason to concoct such an elaborate far-fetched scheme--one which would require forgery, fraud, larceny, a year of research, false passports, fake Swiss bank accounts, numerous trips to the Caribbean, infidelities, lies, the ruination of long-standing friendships, and the loss of his marriage and family. Irving put everything on the line in order to pull a fast one on McGraw-Hill Publishers, not to mention Time-Life Corporation, the mass media and, of course, Howard Hughes, the multi-billionaire recluse whose autobiography Irving faked.

The answer to that question was not, as his friend and co-hoaxter, Richard Suskind put it, to perform an "act of anarchy." While a desire to sow chaos may well have inspired Suskind, what motivated Irving was something more profound. Clifford Irving simply could not live the humdrum life of "cutting along the dotted line." Towards the end of the book, Irving says, "The whole Hughes affair had been a venture into the unknown, a testing of myself, a constant gauntlet of challenge and response." Getting caught was both the danger and the beauty of the hoax; it made Clifford Irving feel alive.

In spite of everything, it is hard not to admire the man. In another day and age he would have conquered the world, or stolen it. Perhaps he would have started a revolution or a religion. The fact of the matter is that the modern world has no use for a person who must test himself by challenging the foundations of society. Laws are there to protect us from renegades like Clifford Irving. Nevertheless, deep in our hearts, a lot of us wish we had the chutzpah to pull off a hoax of such "reckless and artistic splendour."

Toujours l'audace.

This is the story of a man's scam to write the biography of Howard Hughes. He was able to scam his New York publishing house (McGraw Hill) by convincing them that Howard Hughes had commissioned him to write his authorized biography. His `hoax' made global newspaper headlines and was heralded as the biggest media scam of all time.

This book will relate how Clifford Irving almost pulled out this stunt by opening fake Swiss accounts, writing forged letters, using false passports, and conducting faked interviews. He almost pulled it off!

I liked this book, but I found the beginning a bit slow. The part where the author relates his life story was a bit boring for my taste. However, I did like his narrative on how he almost pulled out this stunt.

The goal of writing the authorized biography of Howard Hughes was to make money; in fact, over one million dollars. Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for us and the estate of Howard Hughes, he got caught. But the irony is that he probably ended up amassing more than the million dollars he had hoped for. The `Hoax', written by him, became a worldwide sensation, and is now a major motion picture starring Richard Gere.

In French there is a saying that says, "Rira bien qui rira le dernier". Basically, he who laughs first laughs last. Clifford Irving might have conned us after all!

Afterthought: For a man who almost conned us, how do we know his story of how he pulled the scam is real? Did all the events he described in the book `The Hoax' really happen, or is this a hoax within a hoax?

This book is so enjoyable to read! Clifford Irving narrates this story in sequential order and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens! His writing style is very good and I enjoyed every minute of this book. I felt I knew every one of the characters and I felt for them, too! I was amazed at how easily he fooled so many people. It all started out so simple but then got out of control. I wondered and still wonder if it was really Howard Hughes at the press conference. He should have been forced to show himself to prove he was really still living. I can't believe that it took so long to make this great story into a movie. You can't make stuff like this up! I haven't seen the movie. Irving says it is nothing like the book, so I'll probably catch it on free TV some day. If you want to read an entertaining book, read this one! You won't want to put it down!

Enough good reviews have been written, so I will simply say that this was a fantastic read. It was upsetting in the end to read about what trouble he caused for others and one person in particular, but although I felt upset with Irving, at the same time I could not deny that it added to the emotional impact of the book, making it even more powerful. I read Trial years ago which was also terrific, and I am ready to read more by Irving, who is one of the few great authors on a vast plain of mediocrity.