A White Author Who Pretended To Be Half Indigenous, And 17 More Memoir Authors Who Got Caught In Shocking Lies

Note: This station mentions cause addiction, kid abuse, and rape.

Some memoirs are truthful harrowing that the authors must've felt similar they were surviving successful a enactment of fabrication alternatively than existent life. On uncommon occasions, however, a shocking memoir turns retired to beryllium 1 large lie!

Here are 17 fake memoirs that tricked the world:

1. THE FAKE MEMOIR: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey is purportedly astir the author's clip successful a cause and intoxicant attraction facility. Having destroyed his assemblage to the constituent that doctors couldn't judge helium wasn't dead, helium entered the attraction center, wherever helium met a erstwhile enactment idiosyncratic whom helium was barred from talking to, a mobster, a boxing champion, and a judge. Contrary to his counselor's advice, helium refused to blasted anyone oregon thing different than himself and his ain atrocious decisions for his addiction. The publication was published successful 2003, and 2 years later, it was famously chosen for Oprah's Book Club, launching the communicative and its writer into the spotlight.

THE TRUTH: In 2006, the Smoking Gun conducted an probe and recovered that Frey "wholly fabricated oregon wildly embellished details of his purported transgression career, jailhouse terms, and presumption arsenic an outlaw 'wanted successful 3 states.'" They besides recovered that helium allegedly added fabricated details to a communicative astir a bid mishap that killed 2 teen girls to marque himself look similar a victim.

2. THE FAKE MEMOIR: Published successful 1980, Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake by Frank Abagnale, Jr. tells the expected communicative of the author's clip arsenic a con artist. Before turning 21, helium purportedly forged checks worthy much than $2.5 cardinal and besides pretended to beryllium a Pan Am pilot, a sociology professor, a lawyer, and a aesculapian nonmigratory astatine a hospital. The publication was adapted into the Leonardo DiCaprio-led movie Catch Me If You Can.

THE TRUTH: Several journalists person disproven Abagnale's claims that helium committed the bulk of his fraud betwixt the ages of 16 and 21. In reality, helium was successful situation for each but 14 months during that time. Likewise, helium posed arsenic a Trans World Airlines aviator for lone a fewer weeks, and, contempt claiming that helium escaped an Atlanta national penitentiary, helium was ne'er really held there.

3. THE FAKE MEMOIRS: In the aboriginal '00s, an writer named JT LeRoy wrote 3 novels — Sarah, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, and Harold's End — supposedly based connected his beingness arsenic a genderfluid teenage enactment idiosyncratic surviving with HIV whose parent was besides a enactment worker. The writer adjacent made nationalist appearances successful a wig and sunglasses. In 2004, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things was adapted into a movie starring Asia Argento arsenic Sarah, the quality allegedly based connected Leroy's mother. Jimmy Bennett, Dylan Sprouse, and Cole Sprouse played Jeremiah, the quality based connected LeRoy.

THE TRUTH: Early on, determination were rumors that LeRoy was truly novelist Dennis Cooper oregon his ex-boyfriend, Mark Ewert. In 2005, New York magazine newsman Stephen Beachy, who antecedently lived successful the aforesaid country arsenic LeRoy, interviewed section societal outreach workers, johns, and hustlers, nary of whom remembered encountering LeRoy. Likewise, determination was nary nationalist grounds of his birth. The newsman besides discovered that LeRoy's bandmates, Astor and Speedie, were really a joined couple, Geoffrey Knoop and Laura Albert. In a erstwhile New York Times article, Albert was identified arsenic Emily Frasier, an outreach idiosyncratic who rescued LeRoy disconnected the streets.

Beachy concluded that JT LeRoy had really been Laura Albert each along. As the hoax unraveled, it was revealed that each facet of the LeRoy individuality was wholly fabricated. Albert was not surviving with HIV, she was not genderfluid, and she was not a erstwhile enactment worker. In public, LeRoy was played by Savannah Knoop, Albert's sibling-in-law. When Albert accompanied "LeRoy" successful public, she enactment connected a fake British accent everyplace but the UK, wherever she pretended to beryllium Emily Frasier. In 2007, a tribunal ruled that Albert defrauded the movie institution that was adapting Sarah, and she was ordered to wage them $116,500.

4. THE FAKE MEMOIR: Go Ask Alice was published anonymously successful 1971. It was allegedly a existent teenage girl's diary, chronicling her descent into cause addiction, her rape, her intelligence wellness issues, and her decease 3 weeks aft she stopped writing. The publication was adapted into a TV movie successful 1973 and a play successful 1976.

THE TRUTH: The existent writer reportedly turned retired to beryllium Beatrice Sparks, a housewife and subordinate of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who antecedently penned Key to Happiness, a mostly unsuccessful LDS publication aimed astatine young women. She claimed that the diary was existent and had been fixed to her by the girl's parents, though she embellished it with details from the lives of different teenagers she'd worked with arsenic a counselor. In his 2022 publication Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries, writer Rick Emerson claimed that helium recovered the existent muse who inspired Sparks. He alleged that the miss was a camper astatine the LDS summertime campy wherever Sparks was a counselor. However, helium kept her individuality backstage to support her.

According to the New Yorker, Sparks wrote the alleged diary aft reconnecting with vigor and TV property Art Linkletter, whom she'd antecedently worked with astatine an MLM. Linkletter blamed his daughter's decease by termination connected LSD and took his anti-psychdelic cause run each the mode to the White House. Sparks sent her manuscript to him, and his literate cause sold it to a publisher, who made 1 large alteration — they didn't recognition it to the existent author's name. Her lawyer reportedly said, "As you already know, Mrs. Sparks is dedicated to assisting young radical and is consenting to stay anonymous successful bid to get the connection earlier the public."

5. THE FAKE MEMOIR: Beatrice Sparks's 3rd book, 1979's Jay's Journal, was a diary akin to Go Ask Alice. She alleged that a parent wanted her to instrumentality the diary of her precocious son, a 16-year-old lad with a genius-level IQ, and people them to exposure the "dangers of witchcraft." Sparks claimed she talked to his loved ones arsenic well. The publication included a disclaimer that said, "times, places, names, and immoderate details person been changed to support the privateness and individuality of Jay's household and friends."

THE TRUTH: About 20 years later, Scott Barrett, the small member of the existent Jay (Alden Barrett), self-published A Place successful the Sun, which told the communicative of his brother's depression. He alleged that Sparks lone looked astatine a 3rd of Alden's journals and made up 90 percent of her book. In particular, helium said that she fabricated the entries astir "Jay" processing ESP and entity levitation skills, being progressive successful orgies, and being possessed by a demon. In his book, Scott said that his member utilized a Ouija board, studied Hinduism, smoked weed, stood against the Vietnam War, and challenged the LDS religion he'd been raised in.

6. THE FAKE MEMOIR: Angel astatine the Fence by Herman Rosenblat was a Holocaust survivor's memoir astir however helium supposedly met his wife. Purportedly, erstwhile 12-year-old Rosenblat was imprisoned astatine the Schlieben attraction camp, a 9-year-old miss named Roma Radzicki tossed him an pome implicit the electrical fence. She lived astatine a adjacent workplace and hid her Jewish individuality by pretending to beryllium Christian. For 7 months, she continued bringing him food, but it stopped erstwhile helium was transferred to a antithetic attraction camp. But then, 13 years later, they were reunited connected a unsighted day successful NYC. After talking, they remembered each other, and soon after, they got married.

THE TRUTH: Michigan State University's Jewish studies director, Professor Ken Waltzer, doubted Rosenblat's communicative aft encountering the author's TV appearances and people interviews. He researched archived documents, interviewed survivors who were successful the attraction campy with Rosenblat, and analyzed maps of the area. All of his probe led him to the decision that the expected communicative of Radzicki tossing apples implicit the obstruction was beauteous overmuch impossible.

Rosenblat was a existent Holocaust survivor, and helium met his wife, Roma Radzicki, connected a unsighted date. However, helium yet admitted to fabricating the communicative of however they allegedly met arsenic children. The steadfast canceled the publication respective months earlier it was acceptable to beryllium released. In a statement, Rosenblat said, "I wanted to bring happiness to people. I brought anticipation to a batch of people. My information was to marque bully successful this world."

7. THE FAKE MEMOIR: The 2001 publication The Honored Society by Michael Gambino was initially touted arsenic a caller by transgression brag Carlo Gambino's grandson, "the highest-ranking mob subordinate ever to grounds the innermost workings." The author, who was paid a $500,000 advance, was allegedly imprisoned for 12 years for "murder, kidnapping, extortion, gambling, wealth laundering, robbery, moving a location of prostitutes, bribery," and different crimes. He claimed, "[I] slept with a weapon by my bed... I ne'er knew erstwhile instrumentality enforcement was going to apprehension me, my champion person would effort to termination me, or... [I] mightiness person to termination him."

THE TRUTH: The writer who called himself Michael Gambino was revealed to really beryllium Michael Pellegrino, a transgression from Las Vegas who had nary existent ties to the Gambino family. He was concisely successful jailhouse for impersonating a national agent. The existent Michael Gambino was Carlo Gambino's teenage great-grandson. The boy's mother, Diane Gambino, told the New York Post, "It's wholly ridiculous. This impostor is not a subordinate of our family. The lone morganatic Michael is my son, 16 – and he's not yet aged capable to drive, fto unsocial pen an explosive novel."

8. THE FAKE MEMOIR: Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years by Misha Defonseca is the alleged endurance communicative of a Jewish miss during World War II. It was published successful 1997. Supposedly, the author's parents were taken by the Nazis. Left each alone, she walked crossed Belgium, Germany, and Poland successful hunt of them. To survive, she stole nutrient scraps. Eventually, a battalion of wolves adopted her. Allegedly, she besides changeable a Nazi successful self-defense. In 2007, her bestseller was adapted into the French movie Surviving with Wolves.

THE TRUTH: In 2008, Le Soir, a Belgian newspaper, published an nonfiction that enactment the veracity of Defonseca's communicative into question. So, aft being contacted by her lawyers, the writer publically admitted to fabricating her memoir. She wasn't adjacent Jewish. In a statement, she said, "Yes, my sanction is Monique De Wael, but I person wanted to hide it since I was 4 years old. My parents were arrested, and I was taken successful by my grandfather, Ernest De Wael, and my uncle, Maurice De Wael. I was called 'daughter of a traitor' due to the fact that my begetter was suspected of having talked nether torture successful the situation of Saint-Gilles. Ever since I tin remember, I felt Jewish. The publication is simply a story; it's my story. It's not the existent reality, but it is my reality. There are times erstwhile I find it hard to differentiate betwixt world and my interior world."

9. THE FAKE MEMOIR: Forbidden Love by Norma Khouri is the alleged communicative of the "honor killing" of Dalia, the author's champion friend, successful Jordan. Dalia supposedly kept her narration with a Christian worker named Michael concealed from her Muslim father, who stabbed her to decease erstwhile helium discovered the truth.

THE TRUTH: The communicative began to unravel erstwhile the Jordanian National Commission for Women conducted an investigation. Khouri reportedly sent them an unsolicited anonymous email asking wherever she could donate wealth she earned from her then-upcoming book. The group's director, Amal al-Sabbagh, ignored the email due to the fact that she didn't privation to endorse a publication she wasn't acquainted with, but, arsenic the publication exploded successful popularity, Khouri kept trying to interaction the group. Al-Sabbagh told the Sydney Morning Herald, "When I got the book, I thought, 'She doesn't cognize thing astir Jordan.' It sounded fake. If this sidesplitting had truly happened, we would cognize astir it. Jordan is simply a tiny place, and this is our occupation — radical yet perceive astir these things. And we knew thing astir this... I began to deliberation that this wasn't a Jordanian."

Then, the Sydney Morning Herald conducted its ain probe and recovered that Khouri lived successful Jordan until she was 3, past successful Chicago for astir 3 decades, earlier moving to Australia with her hubby and 2 kids. She reportedly hid her "double life" from her agent, lawyers, publisher, and adjacent the Australian Department of Immigration. Publicly disposable existent property records showed that, successful the '90s, erstwhile Dalia's alleged execution took place, Khouri and her hubby purchased and refinanced homes successful Illinois. The outlet besides recovered that Khouri hadn't contacted her ma and siblings, who each lived successful the US, since her hasty exit from Chicago.

10. THE FAKE MEMOIR: Published successful 2008, Love and Consequences by Margaret B. Jones chronicles the author's alleged puerility arsenic a biracial foster kid of achromatic and Native American heritage. At lone 8 years old, she supposedly got progressive with the Bloods and their satellite of drugs and violence, but she managed to get retired and postgraduate from college.

THE TRUTH: A week aft the memoir was published, the New York Times reported that the writer was really Margaret Seltzer, a achromatic pistillate who grew up successful a affluent portion of Los Angeles. She had ne'er been successful foster care, nor had she tally drugs for immoderate gangs. The steadfast recalled the publication and canceled her publication tour, and she admitted to fabricating the full thing, though she claimed it was based connected her adjacent friends' lives.

11. THE FAKE MEMOIR: Michelle Remembers by Michelle Smith and Lawrence Pazder, MD, was published successful 1980. It was co-written by a psychiatric diligent and her psychiatrist, whom she aboriginal married. The publication tells the tales of Smith's alleged puerility Satanic ritual abuse. Allegedly, erstwhile she was 5, her ma handed her implicit to devil worshippers. She supposedly witnessed the radical execute devil-summoning chants and sacrifice some animals and humans. She besides claimed that wounds appeared connected her body. The publication became a bestseller.

THE TRUTH: Initially, Smith sought attraction from Dr. Pazder due to the fact that she'd had a miscarriage. He led her done a since-discredited attraction called "recovered-memory therapy," which uses imagination interpretation, hypnosis, guided imagery, and akin techniques to uncover suppressed traumatic memories, intersexual maltreatment successful particular. RMT has been criticized for creating mendacious memories, but successful the '80s and '90s, it was much wide practiced successful therapy. Michelle Remembers chronicled Pazder and Smith's RMT session, and the book's popularity led to them being regarded arsenic experts connected SRA. It besides kicked disconnected the Satanic panic.

12. THE FAKE MEMOIR: Published successful 1988, Satan's Underground by Lauren Stratford is the supposed story of the author's flight from a beingness of Satanic ritual abuse, intersexual abuse, pornography, and infanticide.

THE TRUTH: An probe from Cornerstone magazine reporters Bob and Gretchen Passantino and exertion Jon Trott determined that "none of it was true" due to the fact that "there was nary documentation, corroboration, oregon evidence." They discovered that Stratford was really Laurel Rose Willson, a pistillate who reportedly made up "horrendous" stories wherever she was the unfortunate from the clip she was a teenager. Her stories of alleged SRA began erstwhile the Satanic Panic kicked disconnected successful the '80s.

13. THE [ALLEGEDLY] FAKE MEMOIR: The Salt Path by Raynor Winn is the expected communicative of the writer and her husband, Moth, who was diagnosed with corticobasal degeneration. The mates purportedly invested successful a friend's company, but erstwhile it failed, the person supposedly dragged them to court, claiming they owed him money. Without cognition of the tribunal strategy oregon wealth for a lawyer, the mates mislaid the lawsuit and their Welsh farm, leaving them unhoused successful their 50s. So, surviving lone connected their Working Tax Credit, they embarked connected the South West Coast Path, taking the 630-mile travel connected foot. In 2024, the publication was adapted into a movie starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.

THE TRUTH: In 2025, the Observer released an investigative portion claiming that the memoir was "spun from lies, deceit, and desperation." Narrative exertion Chloe Hadjimatheou spoke to Ros Hemmings, Winn's erstwhile boss, who said, "Her claims that it was each conscionable a concern woody that went incorrect truly upset me. When really, she had embezzled the wealth from my husband.  It made maine consciousness sick."

14. THE FAKE MEMOIR: The Cradle of the Deep by Joan Lowell was published successful 1929 arsenic a soundless movie star's autobiography. Supposedly, her father, a oversea captain, raised her connected a schooner, and they traveled the satellite with his sailors. She included each kinds of sensationalist details, including the assertion that, arsenic a baby, she was fed by a goat named "Wet Nurse," and that, successful the South Pacific, she saw a wide wedding wherever the newlyweds had nationalist enactment afterward.

THE TRUTH: When a wholesaler received a transcript of the publication earlier its release, an worker who happened to beryllium a sailor told the steadfast that it indispensable beryllium the "biggest hoax of the century." When the steadfast asked Lowell astir it, she denied making immoderate embellishments. Later on, a paper commissioned Lincoln Colcord, a freelance writer who sailed arsenic a hobby, to constitute a review. But erstwhile helium turned successful his assignment, the insubstantial feared that his nonfiction mightiness beryllium libelous. So, they arranged a gathering betwixt Lowell, her publishers, Colcord, and his editor. Colcord called retired the impossibilities and fake slang successful her book.

However, aft Colcord's scathing reappraisal was published, different journalists decided to analyse Lowell's story. They recovered that her existent sanction was Helen Joan Wagner and that she'd attended mediate and precocious schoolhouse successful Berkley. Her dada truly was a vessel captain, and she occasionally sailed with him connected the Minnie A. Caine increasing up. However, the vessel didn't wreck, and contrary to what she claimed successful the book, her parent was precise overmuch alive. Lowell would lone admit "that the cats were thrown successful for color," and she refused to fess up to immoderate different fabrications. Later on, she said that lone 80 percent of the publication was true.

THE TRUTH: The steadfast paid Irving $750,000 with the knowing that he'd walk the wealth on to Hughes. However, Swiss banking authorities alerted the steadfast that the idiosyncratic depositing the checks nether Hughes's sanction was not the billionaire, but a random woman. The publishers' experts determined that the handwriting connected Hughes's alleged missive apt belonged to the billionaire, but the postal inspectors conducted an probe of their own. They subpoenaed samples of Irving's handwriting and noticed similarities betwixt his penmanship and the missive writer's.

In 1972, Irving admitted to the hoax and was sentenced to 17 months successful prison. After serving his sentence, helium owed "about a cardinal dollars" to repay his beforehand to the steadfast and screen ineligible fees. He told the New York Times, "I anticipation the satellite forgets. I'd hatred to spell to my sedate remembered lone arsenic the antheral who did the Hughes hoax."

16. THE [ALLEGEDLY] FAKE MEMOIR: Published successful 1993, A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story by Anthony Godby Johnson was supposedly written by a 14-year-old lad who'd endured horrific carnal and intersexual maltreatment from his parents until property 11, erstwhile helium ran away. He was adopted by a mates successful NYC, but alternatively than a happily ever after, helium was diagnosed with AIDS, which was sidesplitting him.

THE TRUTH: In 1993, Newsweek reported that Johnson's agent, his publisher's president, the selling director, his editor, his publicist, writer Paul Monette (who penned the book's foreword), Fred Rogers (who wrote the afterword), and galore different radical who were portion of Johnson's beingness had ne'er met him face-to-face. Only Vicki Johnson, who claimed to beryllium his adoptive mother, had seen him successful person, and she kept radical distant from him due to the fact that of his assorted diagnoses, including AIDS and TB. She besides protected his idiosyncratic details. Additionally, determination was nary grounds to backmost up the book's assertion that Johnson's commencement parents had been sentenced to 25 years to beingness successful prison.

In 2000, writer Armistead Maupin wrote The Night Listener, a fictionalized relationship of his phone-based relationship with Johnson and his consequent realization that Johnson's beingness was an alleged hoax. Maupin told the New York Post that helium archetypal began to uncertainty the communicative aft his partner, Terry Anderson, spoke to some Johnson and Vicki connected the phone. He said, "Terry suggested that it was the aforesaid voice. And I saw his constituent astir immediately." Later on, Johnson and Vicki's voices were digitally analyzed, reportedly revealing that Vicki had been the existent dependable down her expected lad each along.

17. And finally, THE FAKE MEMOIR: In His Image: The Cloning of a Man by David Rorvik, which was published successful 1978, chronicles the author's expected occurrence successful quality cloning. He claimed that a millionaire commissioned him to pb a radical of scientists successful a laboratory connected a Pacific island, wherever they spent 5 years creating a clone from the millionaire's cells. Their clone was calved from a surrogate. Right earlier the publication was released, the New York Post published Rorvik's claims successful a sensational nonfiction titled, "BABY BORN WITHOUT A MOTHER: He's archetypal quality clone." Other outlets picked up the story, sparking contention nationwide.

THE TRUTH: For 3 months, scientists worked to discredit the subject down the alleged cloning. Then, successful 1981, a tribunal demanded grounds and yet ruled it was "a fraud and a hoax."

What's the biggest hoax you've ever fallen for? Share your experiences successful the comments oregon successful the anonyous comments container below!

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize has experienced intersexual assault, you tin telephone the National Sexual Assault Hotline astatine 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), which routes the caller to their nearest intersexual battle work provider. You tin besides hunt for your section halfway here. 

If you are acrophobic that a kid is experiencing oregon whitethorn beryllium successful information of abuse, you tin telephone oregon substance the National Child Abuse Hotline astatine 1-800-422-4453(4.A.CHILD); work tin beryllium provided successful implicit 140 languages.

The National Alliance connected Mental Illness helpline is 1-800-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides accusation and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an relation of intelligence wellness professionals from much than 25 countries who enactment efforts to trim harm successful therapy.