Customer Reviews:
 A classic caper September 24, 2008
What a life Clifford Irving led - this story reads like an old fashioned heist film - with the added spice that it's based on truth. He comes over as a larger than life man who lives his life on a very grand style. he gambles and goes for it and as the other reviewer points out, you root for him even though he's in the wrong. most enjoyable.
 An unforgettable Hoax! May 19, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is the true story of how Clifford Irving his wife, Edith, and their friend, Richard Suskind, pulled off one of the biggest hoaxes ever..or did they? It tells how they decided to write an authorised biography of Howard Hughes without his authority and without even an interview with the man. It details how the idea first came about, how painstaking research, extemely lucky guesswork and more than a few lies gave them an exremely accurate biography. The action takes place in several countries and involves false passports, Swiss bank accounts and lie-detector tests. To find out what happens next, you'll have to read it for yourselves.I found the book entertaining, funny and almost too fantastic to be true. But it did happen. How they did what they did and fooled so many people we will never know. Clifford Irving is the kind of author/journalist who can bring a story or account alive with humour. He makes you live it with him and you WANT him to succeed even though what he did was illegal. The reason I read this book was because I initially read a later book of his - "Daddy's Girl" - which is equally well written and left me wanting more from Mr Irving. All in all, I found it impossible to drag my nose out of the book.
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