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Fake memoirs form a category of literary forgery in which a wholly or partially fabricated autobiography, memoir or journal of an individual is presented as fact. In some cases, the purported author of the work is also a fabrication.
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A number of recent fake memoirs fall into the category of "misery lit", where the authors claim to have overcome overwhelming losses (i.e. bereavement, abuse, addiction, and poverty). Several more have detailed fabricated stories of Holocaust survival, with at least one having been penned by an actual Holocaust victim.
In literary hoaxes, the deception often operates “top-down”: a well-off, middle-class individual writes from the perspective of, for example, someone with an addiction or a gang member. [1] [2] One type of hoax is the intercultural hoax, in which a representative of the dominant culture pretends to be a member of a minority group. One reason is the publishing industry: demand exceeds supply, creating a market for counterfeits. The key issue is the power imbalance between the hoaxer and the persona they are impersonating. The hoaxer possesses cultural capital: they are often already a writer and understand how the publishing industry works. Marginalized or exoticized individuals—such as members of ethnic minorities whom the hoaxers pretend to be—also possess cultural capital, because people are interested in their stories. [1] [3]
The current trauma-focused culture encourages people to publicly display their trauma and turn it into a marketable story. Capitalism encourages exaggeration: the biggest, strangest, and most frightening story gets the most attention. [2] Christopher L. Miller, who has studied the topic in his book Impostors: Literary Hoaxes and Cultural Authenticity (Chicago, 2018) says that in today’s world, “[i]t is harder to see the fun in deception when the fate of the world seems to depend on resisting lies, ‘alternative facts,’ and ‘fake news,’” [1]
People who belong to the community being impersonated or who know it well often do not detect the hoax. They, too, want to believe in the book: they want successful works to come from their community. Conducting a kind of “criminal investigation” to guess the author’s true identity based on the text is difficult. [1]
Due to scams, publishers have been asked to do more background checks and fact-checking on authors' materials. [4]
Hoaxes are often profitable even after being exposed. If the books are popular, it is often in the interest of the publisher—and even the deceived readers—to continue the pretense. [1] The Education of Little Tree, written by former Ku Klux Klan member Asa Carter posing as a Cherokee orphan named Forrest Carter, is still marketed on the publisher’s website as a classic of its era and a timeless book for all ages. [5] James Frey 's A Million Little Pieces is described in online bookstores as a celebrated account of Frey’s time in rehab. [6] Go Ask Alice, written by a fifty-something Mormon named Beatrice Sparks, is still sold as the anonymous diary of a teenage drug addict. [7]