It is written in a journalistic fashion, with many leads explored to. It would be satisfying to be able to convey the sense of wonder, delight and gratification this book gave me. The howard hughes hoax in 1970, authors clifford irving and richard suskind concocted a scheme to forge an autobiography of notoriously eccentric and reclusive billionaire howard hughes. Irving served 17 months of a twoandahalfyear sentence. Howard hughes by clifford irving overdrive rakuten. Irvings autobiography of howard hughes was one of the biggest literary. Clifford irving, howard hughes book prankster, has died at. Dec 21, 2017 clifford irving, whose audacious scheme to publish a fake autobiography of reclusive billionaire howard hughes stands as one of the great literary hoaxes, has died at a hospice facility in florida. Irving researched a lot of whats in this book and even though its fiction, lots of facts are mixed in.
Portions of irvings book like hughes aides story the. Had i succeeded, no one would have been hurt, he told reference work contemporary authors. Clifford irving, howard hughes book prankster, has died at 87. Hughess playboy lifestyle, his aviation adventures and, later, his withdrawal into becoming a recluse is gripping and bizarre, with irvings research making this much. Jul 19, 2019 discover more about popular writer washington irving, author of the classic stories rip van winkle and the legend of sleepy hollow, at biography. The screenplay by william wheeler is based on the book of the same title by clifford irving. Dec 20, 2017 clifford irving, who perpetrated one of the biggest literary hoaxes of the 20th century in the early 1970s when he concocted a supposedly authorized autobiography of the billionaire howard hughes. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. What really happened that year it was later reissued as the hoax. Clifford irving, author of notorious howard hughes. Dec 21, 2017 the author clifford irving, who has died aged 87, was best known for writing what became the most famous unpublished book of the 20th century, the autobiography of howard hughes.
Inspire a love of reading with prime book box for kids discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1. David irvings book length account of how he was ambushed by the austrian stapo, the secret state police, in november 2005, and sentenced to three years jail in the countrys oldest, grimmest prison for a lecture he had delivered sixteen years before. Irving served 17 months in federal prison for fraud after hughes emerged to condemn the work as a fabrication. Jan 01, 1982 a book where the story behind it is almost as fascinating as the book itself, irvings fictionalised autobiography of flying tycoon howard hughes is a great soap opera tale.
Irving penned a fake autobiography of howard hughes, the american. Clifford irving, whose autobiography of howard hughes. Irving, a loser on hughes book, wins case with own legal. The autobiography of howard hughes by clifford irving. He fooled publishing executives, swiss bank officials and liedetector tests with a phony autobiography of billionaire howard hughes. The autobiography of howard hughes by clifford irving book cover, description, publication history. Clifford irving and his wife, julie, briefly lived in mexico. Irving, it seemed, sent a copy of that book to hughes and received in reply a letter scrawled on yellow legal paper. The author clifford irving, who has died aged 87, was best known for writing what became the most famous unpublished book of the 20th century, the autobiography of howard hughes. Irving and suskind, the book chronicled the making of their hughes work, and was. Join facebook to connect with irving hughes and others you may know. The deception unraveled when investigative reporter james phelan, writing a book about hughes, recognized passages of his work in an. Irving wrote the book the hoax documenting the elaborate scheme behind the book. It is a fascinating tale of how clifford irving fooled time magazine to fund his book, the autobiography of howard hughes.
This is a book about the world of retailing top value art and if you have no interest in this then maybe it would be best to seek elsewhere for your next reading entertainment. Shannon hughes has 46 books on goodreads, and is currently reading death sung softly by david archer, present over perfect. In january 1972, the reclusive billionaire howard hughes speaks to reporters and reveals clifford irvings book to be a spectacular literary hoax. Irving penned a fake autobiography of howard hughes. He caught the swashbuckling style of hughess earlier years, and editors at mcgraw hill thought the book was a masterpiece.
In 2012, the fake hughes autobiography was published as an e book under the title clifford irving s autobiography of howard hughes. And if it wasnt 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 irvings deception would have been successful. More writings on hughes like irvings are revealed the new. Clifford irving, author of howard hughes literary hoax. Farley richmond michigan state university alan hughes. Clifford irving, author of faked hughes biography, dead at 87. Howard hughes clifford irving abebooks passion for books. The hoax, first published in 1981, is irvings explosive account of his own misdeeds and the inspiration for a soontobe released movie starring richard gere. So new york author and journalist clifford irving set out to do what no one else had done before. Suskind was incarcerated for five months of a sixmonth prison sentence for his role in collaborating with irving on the hoax. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Project muse henry irving, shakespearean by alan hughes.
Assuming that hughes would never come out from hiding to denounce the book, they felt that their plan was foolproof. Listen to howard hughes breaks his silence history. No fool, irving sensed an opening and wrote back, promising he could muster as much writerly sensitivity for a book about hughess life. The inside story of the howard hughes clifford irving affair, by s fay, l chester and m linklater, revd by c lehmannhaupt. Richard suskind may 2, 1925 september 14, 1999 was a childrens author who participated with author clifford irving in creating a fraudulent autobiography of the reclusive entrepreneur howard hughes. When asked in early 1972, if his book was a fake, irving declared, it is not. In 1971, clifford irving tried to pull off the literary. If i had it all to do over again, i would do it all, with one difference. The autobiography by clifford irving, howard hughes and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Irvings book, however, is supposedly an oral history, with irving asking questions and hughes answering them. Clifford irvings autobiography of howard hughes forgery is a crime thats hard to carry off and harder to prove. The reality was irving believed hughes was too ill to repudiate the book.
But eventually the tall tale unravelled the book was. Clifford irving, howard hughes prankster, has died at 87. Irving s spontaneous exuberance in portraying characters is on par with other writers like hemingway and fitzgerald. This wasnt the book i was looking for but my library didnt have the clifford irving hoax book. Noah dietrich february 28, 1889 february 15, 1982 was an american businessman, who was the chief executive officer of the howard hughes business empire from 1925 to 1957. In 1971, clifford irving tried to pull off the literary fraud. The first interview of irving, of course, is known to be a departure from the truth. Howard hughes breaks his silence in january 1972, the reclusive billionaire howard hughes speaks to reporters and reveals clifford irving s book to be a spectacular literary hoax. A book where the story behind it is almost as fascinating as the book itself, irvings fictionalised autobiography of flying tycoon howard hughes is a great soap opera tale. Clifford irving, whose scheme to publish a fake autobiography of. An american expatriate living on the spanish island of ibiza, irving had several thrillers to his name and. Clifford irving, whose scheme to publish a phony autobiography of billionaire howard hughes created a sensation in the 1970s and stands as one of the alltime literary hoaxes, died after being. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. The hoax remains one of the favorite books i ever read.
Confessions of an unhappy billionaire purports to be hughes life story, told in his own words. The fake hughes autobiography, now titled clifford irvings autobiography of howard hughes, is sold online as an ebook. Irving spent 16 months in prison after being convicted of fraud in relation to the howard hughes book. Clifford irving, whose scheme to publish a phony autobiography of billionaire howard hughes created a sensation in the 1970s and stands as one of the alltime literary hoaxes. Irving writes well when hes writing about what interests him, and happily has written many enjoyable books for which we should all be grateful. This is a fine debut that is feverish and memorable, thrilling and frantic. The hughes book is the authors most wellknown work, but irving said the kindle project helped put that 40yearold book in perspective as one of 20 in his literary canon. I survived that, he told bill husted, of the denver post, in 2011. On december 7, 1971, mcgrawhill book company announced the imminent publication of the autobiography of howard hughes, a book irving had assembled from more than a hundred hours of interviews hed conducted with the billionaire everyone had heard of but hardly anyone knew. Even though this is not an autobiography as told by hughes, clifford irving is a good writer, and this fictional account is based on his research of howard hughes life. Clifford irving, whose autobiography of howard hughes nearly. In 2012, the fake hughes autobiography was published as an e book under the title clifford irvings autobiography of howard hughes. Howard hughes isbn 9781844545612 pdf epub clifford irving.
The prison memoirs of 0040, aka clifford irving as an e book. In state court, they along with irving s research assistant, richard suskind pleaded guilty to conspiracy and grand larceny. Dec 21, 2017 the hughes hoax followed irvings book fake. Son of controversial author brings fathers books into. To the authors surprise, hughes accepted the offer. Even though these dates have been recorded as the official period of employment, noah dietrich continued to oversee and make executive decisions for the hughes industries as late as 1970. The deception unraveled when investigative reporter james phelan, writing a book about hughes, recognized passages of his work in an excerpt from irving s manuscript of the autobiography.
Hughes, hearing of the 1971 mcgrawhill book deal, made an angry call to frank mcculloch, whod been the last man to interview him. Irving s career as a novelist is kick started by this vibrant and vital, sensitive and bold book, a story where young folk attack their lives dead on. The previous year, irving had claimed he possessed tapes, letters, and manuscripts from hughes. It recounts irving s elaborate hoax of publishing an autobiography of howard hughes that he purportedly helped write, without ever having talked with hughes. While the veracity of this account cannot be definitely established, it rings true, and is not just a story of howard hughes, but a series of untold stories of many other luminaries in american history during the period of hughes life.
Dec 26, 2017 21 dec 2017 clifford irving, howard hughes prankster, has died at 87 clifford irving, whose scheme to publish a phony autobiography of billionaire howard hughes created a sensation in the 1970s. Clifford michael irving november 5, 1930 december 19, 2017 was an american novelist and investigative reporter. Irvings career as a novelist is kick started by this vibrant and vital, sensitive and bold book, a story where young folk attack their lives dead on. Although he published 20 novels, he is best known for an autobiography allegedly written as told to irving by billionaire recluse howard hughes.
In march 1972, irving and his wife pleaded guilty to conspiracy in federal court. The autobiography of howard hughes by clifford irving abebooks. I have read many hughes books and this was by far the best. Once i was on the cover of time magazine, and later was thrown in federal prison for writing the hoax autobiography of howard hughes which pilloried richard nixon among other notables. And if it wasnt 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. Author whose literary hoax fooled america in the seventies and inspired a hollywood film. The book was about to go to press at the end of 1971, when hughes went public and denied knowing irving. In late 1970, irving ran into an old friend and fellow scribe, richard suskind. Im clifford irving, and ive had an eventfilled life. Written by irving and suskind, the book chronicled the making of.
Tycoon, recluse, filmmaker, and aviator, more myths have been circulated about hughes than the flying dutchman. Seeing an opportunity for more fame, he and suskind published the book, clifford irving. Hughess playboy lifestyle, his aviation adventures and, later, his withdrawal into becoming a recluse is gripping and bizarre, with irvings research making this much, much more than just a rehash of known anecdotes. Irving and suskind, the book chronicled the making of their hughes work, and was adapted into a 2006 movie starring richard gere and alfred molina. Clifford irving, whose scheme to publish a phony autobiography of billionaire howard hughes created a sensation in the 1970s, died after being admitted to a hospice near his sarasota home aged 87. The hoax is a 2006 american drama film starring richard gere, directed by swedish filmmaker lasse hallstrom. Irvings spontaneous exuberance in portraying characters is on par with other writers like hemingway and fitzgerald. Clifford irving convinced his publishers that he had the authentic au. That said, this was a hugely entertaining book about irving s attempt to fake the autobiography of reclusive billionaire howard hughes. Irvings life and work, the lines between fact and fiction were. Aidesuggests hughes computer may be a source of irving book. Shop a vast selection of books, art and collectibles from independent sellers around the world. Howstuffworks takes a look at some literary forgeries and how they were discovered. He died from pancreatic cancer on december 19, 2017 at the age of 87.
Irving says that he and hughes never communicated in any way, except. The famed autobiography of howard hughes, the book that almost ended irving s career, was published on the internet last june. Irving and some other con artist took turns roleplaying hughes and interviewing each other, transcribed the tapes and turned it into a manuscript. The hoax was written by clifford irving as an apology to the world, for committing the crime of conning money from time magazine to write his book about a man he never did meet. Hughes, who has been living in seclusion for about 15. Clifford irving, whose scheme to publish a phony autobiography of billionaire howard hughes created a sensation in the 1970s and stands as one of the alltime literary hoaxes, died after being admitted to hospice care in florida. Clifford irving, author of fake autobiography of howard. Clifford irving, author of notorious howard hughes literary. In 2012, the fake hughes autobiography was published under the title clifford irvings autobiography of howard hughes as an ebook. While the veracity of this account cannot be definitely established, it rings true, and is not just a story of howard hughes, but a series of untold stories of many other luminaries in american. And unsurprisingly there were few books written about hughes fascinating life a life which was rumoured to be on the brink of ruin.