Truth and Consequences

Tears and sorrow fill the offices of mainstream publisher Riverhead books as another memoir delivered from the school of hard knocks turns out to be a complete fabrication. Love and Consequences, a memoir released last week by Margaret Seltzer (published under the silly pseudonym Margaret B Jones), which chronicles the author's difficult life story of foster families, drug running, and all around thuggin' on the mean streets of L.A., turns out to be a complete bowl of lies.

Praised highly by the tyrannical Michiko Kakutani, Seltzer was outed when her own sister tipped off the New York Times to the truth of her life story. That's going to make for some awkward holiday moments.

Ron Hogan of the book blog, Galleycat, says there should be greater levels of fact checking, stating that, "...if you're insulted that somebody's holding your nonfiction writing up to a simple standard of truth, you're probably not ready to share that writing with anybody, let alone an editor."

Though memoirs such as Seltzer's continue to dominate the book market, the truth still remains an elusive detail to acquire, though Riverhead claims Seltzer provided staunch evidence of her case and never changed her story over the last three years. Sounds like a very familiar story, but even the notorious James Frey had the balls to use his real name in print. These days, even he is publishing under the flag of fiction, which though it may not currently sell as well, still remains the acceptable form of lying.

As for Seltzer, her book tour has been cancelled and all 19,000 copies of her book have been recalled.

Post contributed by Brian Foley. Promotional image of the author.