Lying For Dollars
There is an interesting New York Times piece today regarding the value of truth, something with which Random House seems to have an uneasy relationship.
The article "What Is the Value of Truth?" by Dan Mitchell deals with Random House and others trying to brush off the fact that Jim Frey's A Million Little Pieces knowingly lied about the truth, something we have also seen with The Da Vinci Code.
Mitchell writes: If "Pieces" were labeled as fiction, would it still have landed Mr. Frey on "Oprah"? Would his tale of degeneracy, redemption and rehabilitation have ever seen the light of day?
'The Smoking Gun thinks not. If the book were "just some overheated stories of woe, heartache, and debauchery cooked up by a wannabe author," the story concludes, "it probably would not get published." The Web site points to a 2003 article in The New York Observer, which said that Mr. Frey tried to sell the book as fiction until his publisher vetoed the idea.'
Read the entire article.
One can also wonder whether DVCode would have sold so many copies had Brown and Random House not presented so much of the work as fact, and stuck steadfastly to the lie even after so many scholars had thoroughly demolished that idea.
It is dishonest at best to trick people into an intellectual bait-and-switch of these sorts.
On the other hand, the Federal Trade Commission and any number of class-action consumer lawsuits have found that false and misleading advertising and promotion are illegal.
Are "Pieces" and "Code" part of a pattern as other posters here and elsewhere have suggested? If so, what other Random House "facts" are fiction? If Random House knew about these before hand and structured marketing that was knowingly false, they should be investigated by the FTC and other appropriate bodies.
The article "What Is the Value of Truth?" by Dan Mitchell deals with Random House and others trying to brush off the fact that Jim Frey's A Million Little Pieces knowingly lied about the truth, something we have also seen with The Da Vinci Code.
Mitchell writes: If "Pieces" were labeled as fiction, would it still have landed Mr. Frey on "Oprah"? Would his tale of degeneracy, redemption and rehabilitation have ever seen the light of day?
'The Smoking Gun thinks not. If the book were "just some overheated stories of woe, heartache, and debauchery cooked up by a wannabe author," the story concludes, "it probably would not get published." The Web site points to a 2003 article in The New York Observer, which said that Mr. Frey tried to sell the book as fiction until his publisher vetoed the idea.'
Read the entire article.
One can also wonder whether DVCode would have sold so many copies had Brown and Random House not presented so much of the work as fact, and stuck steadfastly to the lie even after so many scholars had thoroughly demolished that idea.
It is dishonest at best to trick people into an intellectual bait-and-switch of these sorts.
On the other hand, the Federal Trade Commission and any number of class-action consumer lawsuits have found that false and misleading advertising and promotion are illegal.
Are "Pieces" and "Code" part of a pattern as other posters here and elsewhere have suggested? If so, what other Random House "facts" are fiction? If Random House knew about these before hand and structured marketing that was knowingly false, they should be investigated by the FTC and other appropriate bodies.
posted by Lewis Perdue at 8:52 AM
4 Comments:
This whole trend riles the hell out of me, after writing two travel memoirs about Alaska and conservation efforts on the behalf of myself and a horde of unsung heroes. I couldn't get the time of day for my truthful tales of doing good in the face of powerful oppostion. The powerful always win right or wrong is the message we get from this. And always something not only negative which is fine if truthful, but knowingly false.
Frey was, and is, a rich produced Hollywood player, a director even. That's far from your poor schmuck on the street. As the TSG points out for a guy who spent his college years "laying in his own blood and vomit, he graduated on time! Had he been on heroin," they pondered, "he could have come away with a master's."
The whole thing is a planned skunk attack by a sleazy player and the whole business got sprayed. Gay Talese to his credit denounced the whole thing, but his wife the publisher stands by it. What a crock publishing is.
"Buried in a USA Today article that once again looks at forthcoming Da Vinci Code-esque books is this report that the working title of THE SOLOMON KEY for Dan Brown's book-in-progress has been dropped. Spokesperson Alison Rich says: "No title, no content, no publication date, no nothing."
USA Today
You got him on the ropes Lew.
I don't take any joy in this.
Dan Brown made a mistake but I am not sure he needs to pay for it the rest of his writing career.
If the Random House lawyers hadn't decided to explode a legalistic IED back in May 2003,instead of having the rational conversation I offered, this would all be over by now.
Why? Because my feeling is that Brown could have said, "Oops! I forgot to give you an acknowledgement. Here is is!"
I would have accepted that. That's all I wanted. I've been clear about that from the very beginning.
If I were Dan Brown, I'd be pissed as hell at the lawyers for making this far bigger than it should have been.
People make mistakes. No one is perfect. I'd STILL settle for a credit and a handshake apology from Dan Brown.
If Brown wanted to call me directly and set the handshake in motion, I'd be happy to accept that and call it quits so he could get back to writing and whatever else he wants to do.
There were two books ripped off, DVLegacy and daughter of God.
Read the expert report.
There are also many word-for-word examples.
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