Author of the best-selling series Conversations with God Neale Donald Walsch notes in a blog post that a Christmas essay he posted on Beliefnet.com was in fact the almost verbatim work of Candy Shand. Her ten-year-old article had been widely circulated electronically, reprinted in Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul and then formed the basis of an illustrated gift book, CHRISTMAS LOVE, published last summer by Gibbs Smith. Walsch says the essay had been “in my computer file for at least seven years” and “was written in the first person, describing an experience that occurred with my son 20 […]
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Lerner Pulls Angel Girl
Lerner Publishing Group, also duped into publishing Herman Rosenblat’s fake Holocaust love story in the children’s book ANGEL GIRL (released this September), is recalling the book. The company is “issuing refunds on all returned books” and “no longer offering the book for sale.” They say in a statement they were “shocked and disappointed to learn that the widely publicized” story was fabricated. Author Laurie Friedman, who had interviewed the Rosenblats to retell their story for children, says “throughout the development of this book, the Rosenblats reviewed my manuscript and assured me of the authenticity of the details of their story. […]
Berkley Cancels Holocaust Memoir as Author Confesses
On the quietest Saturday of the year, Berkley cancelled publication of Herman Rosenblat’s ANGEL AT THE FENCE: The True Story of a Love That Survived, scheduled for release in February. In a short statement the publisher, which initially defended the book following a long piece in The New Republic, said the cancellation came “after receiving new information from Rosenblatt’s agent, Andrea Hurst.” They also said that they “will demand that the author and the agent return all money that they have received for this work.” (The NYT said later that it was sold “for less than $50,000.) In a statement […]
Berkely Cancels Holocaust Memoir
Publication of Herman Rosenblat’s forthcoming ANGEL AT THE FENCE: The True Story of a Love That Survived, has been cancelled by Berkley, which initially defend the book, “after receiving new information from Rosenblatts’s agent, Andrea Hurst” according to a short statement. They add that the publisher “will demand that the author and the agent return all money that they have received for this work.” Earlier in the week Berkley had told the AP that Holocaust expert Michael Berenbaum said the book’s “general outline” was credible and hedged by asserting that “any memoir based on the memories of a survivor is […]
The Next Memoir Takedown
Herman Rosenblat’s forthcoming Holocaust memoir from Berkley ANGEL AT THE FENCE: The True Story of a Love That Survived, has been the focus of an international takedown effort for a while now (as we’ve been regularly advised by email) and now Gabriel Sherman at The New Republic files a long piece on the book. “The power of Herman’s narrative is largely due to the fact that the incredible story actually happened. Herman himself writes of his first encounter with Roma with such disbelief. ‘I noticed a small girl hiding behind a tree on the other side of the fence. I […]
Le Clezio: Make Books Available
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio delivered his Nobel lecture this weekend. In a portion of the speech focused on publishers, he said that “to provide nearly everyone on the planet with a liquid crystal display is utopian.” The Internet and “virtual communication” are “a good thing, but what would these astonishing inventions be worth, were it not for the teachings of written language and books?” He argued that publishers should spread books themselves, and translations of voices and small, throughout the world: “Culture on a global scale concerns us all. But it is above all the responsibility of readers–of publishers, in […]