Author Pens Book of Gang Life—Truth Is, She Lived the Sweet Life

Imagine a book that changed your life—Perhaps it’s a rag-to-riches story that parallels your own life; maybe it’s a story of hitting rock bottom and managing to overcome the greatest of demons; or maybe it’s a memoir that makes you think, “Wow…someone else gets it.”

Now imagine finding out that the book you believe in—the very one that changed your life—is a lie. A huge, fabricated-out-of-thin-air lie. The joke is on you. It doesn’t matter if the author gets to keep their advance, or still managed to make thousands, even millions of dollars in the first few weeks of sale. They can have the money. You feel betrayed, like a dear friend stabbed you in the back.

Oprah publicly chastised James Frey after his memoir, A Million Little Pieces was found to be a fake account of his drug addiction and subsequent withdrawal. When readers learned the truth about Frey and his fake memoir, the book went from being on the best seller table in the front of the store to the bargain bin in the back. It doesn’t matter that the writing is in a class of its own; the fact that it’s a lie is enough to turn readers off.

Last week, history repeated itself for millions of readers when Margaret Seltzer, a.k.a. Margaret Jones’ memoir, Love and Consequences was found to be a fake. In the (for lack of a better term) “memoir,” Seltzer describes herself as a young girl in foster care growing up in the ghetto of Los Angeles running drugs for gangs. In real life, Seltzer grew up in an upper-class section of town in San Fernando Valley with her parents, graduating from a private high school.

Penguin Books has recalled all copies of Love and Consequences and has canceled the publicity tour which was to begin in Oregon. Seltzer told The New York Times that the book is entirely fabricated, and admits (when asked why she did it,) “maybe it’s an ego thing.” The truth about Seltzer was revealed when a story ran in the House & Home section of the Times. Seltzer’s sister, Cyndi Hoffman, saw the story and contacted Sarah McGrath, Seltzer’s editor, and told her the story was a lie. Ms. McGrath tells the Times that she was stunned to learn the truth.

A word of caution to all aspiring novelists: Real life is much more interesting than a fake one. If you’re writing a memoir, don’t lie to your audience. The truth will always prevail.