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Synopsis
Soon to be a major motion picture—a no-holds-barred account of the most notorious literary hoax of the twentieth century, written by the perpetrator himself
Before Oprah and TheSmokingGun had ever heard of James Frey, there was Clifford Irving. In 1971, he burst onto the literary scene, claiming to have been granted the right to pen the authorized biography of the famously reclusive icon Howard Hughes. Forged documents seemed to bear out his claims, and McGraw-Hill awarded him a contract for the then-enormous sum of $750,000. When Hughes himself emerged from seclusion to denounce Irving as a charlatan, McGraw-Hill stood by their author. It wasn't until Hughes filed suit, and Swiss bank officials got involved, that Irving finally confessed. The Hoax, first published in 1981, is Irving's explosive account of his own misdeeds—and the inspiration for a soon-to-be released movie starring Richard Gere.
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.