This one is particularly disgusting. This rich white girl is now claiming that all she wanted to do was to give a voice to a mysterious other - presumably non-whites - who don't have a voice unless she gives them one. What I've read of her fantasy is nothing less than an insult.

Just unbelievable. This is the form racism takes today.

So the girl can write fiction since she apparently pleases reviewers, good for her.

The NY Times has another story on this today, focusing on the publisher. This one makes it just really amusing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/books/05fake.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

First this bit from the publisher:

Geoffrey Kloske, publisher of Riverhead Books, the unit of Penguin Group USA that released the book, by Margaret Seltzer, under a pseudonym, Margaret B. Jones, said on Tuesday that there was nothing else that he or Sarah McGrath, the book’s editor, could have done to prevent the author from lying.

And then from the editor:

Despite editing the book in the aftermath of the scandal surrounding James Frey, author of a best-selling memoir, “A Million Little Pieces,” who admitted making up or exaggerating details in his account of drug addiction and recovery, Ms. McGrath said she did not independently check parts of Ms. Seltzer’s story or perform any kind of background check. She said she relied on Ms. Seltzer to tell the truth.

“In the post-James Frey world, we all are more careful,” Ms. McGrath said. “I had numerous conversations with her about the need to be honest and the need to stick to the facts.”

I do not think "nothing else we could do" means what they think it means.

Rat's Reading - http://reading.kingrat.biz/

And great commentary from Brockman at Powell's:

http://www.powells.com/blog/?p=2993

I can't decide which is the best part: that Seltzer's older sister outed her as a hoax, or that Seltzer claims she had a mandate to lie:

"I was in a position where at one point people said you should speak for us because nobody else is going to let us in to talk. Maybe it's an ego thing — I don't know. I just felt that there was good that I could do and there was no other way that someone would listen to it."

Or maybe it's a crazy thing. That's possible, huh? Like, maybe a little God-like voice came to her and said, "Lie for all the poor people, Margaret — you must save all the minorities with this one book full of lies! ONLY YOU CAN DO IT!!!"

Rat's Reading - http://reading.kingrat.biz/

Being 1/2 native ndn myself AND growing up in a "ghetto" and around gangs at that (thankfully no where near LA), this white bread girl is an offense to my sensibilities - I wouldn't dare to show this link to my fullblood Dine'h friend. Oh man, she'd pitch a fit! One more barb in the collective backsides of tribes everywhere.
honestly - memoirs should be checked out somehow, It wouldn't take much to figure out this girl was yanking their chain! Especially with google!
I'm glad that little wannabe poseur got ratted out by her own sister!