Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger

by Lee Israel

3 of 5 stars 1 rating • 0 reviews • 2 shelved
Book cover for Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Bookhype may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.

Before turning to the criminal life, running a onewoman forgery scam out of an Upper West Side studio shared with her tortoiseshell cat, and dodging the FBI, Lee Israel enjoyed a celebrated reputation as an author. When her writing career suddenly took a turn for the worse, she conceived of the astonishing literary scheme that fooled even many of the experts. Forging hundreds of letters from such collectible luminaries as Dorothy Parker, Noel Coward, and Lillian Hellman -- and recreating their autographs with a flourish -- Israel sold her "memorabilia" to dealers across the country, producing a collection of pitch-perfect imitations virtually indistinguishable from the voices of their real-life counterparts. Exquisitely written, with reproductions of her marvelous forgeries, Can You Ever Forgive Me? is Israel's delightful, hilarious memoir of a brilliant and audacious literary crime caper.
  • ISBN10 1416588671
  • ISBN13 9781416588672
  • Publish Date 5 August 2008
  • Publish Status Out of Stock
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint Simon & Schuster
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 129
  • Language English