The Hoax - Clifford Irving Audiobook

Written by Clifford Irving
Read by Joe Barrett
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Release date: January 1, 2006
Duration: 14:38:56

Novelist Clifford Irving’s “autobiography” of Howard Hughes was the literary hoax of our time. This no-holds-barred confession by the author was first published in Great Britain in 1977, where it became a best-seller. But no American hardcover house would touch it. Why? The answer is implicit in this ultimate caper story of daring, treachery, and corruption.

As fast-paced and exciting as any spy novel, The Hoax involves the reader at every devilish turn. Irving describes how the hoax developed, like a Chinese puzzle, from its madcap beginning to the final startling confession, a witty and nail-biting story of international intrigue and beautiful women, of powerful corporate executives and jet-set rogues, of cover-ups and headlines.

When Clifford Irving and his researcher Dick Susskind hatched a plot to write a fake autobiography of the reclusive billionaire, they embarked on a cataclysmic year of double-dealing, corruption, sex, lies, and forgeries. Narrator Joe Barrett is remarkably convincing as the determined author, who finds himself in over his head. Barrett even manages to “sound” fat as Irving’s rotund partner-in-crime, Susskind. The surprise scene-stealer is Irving’s foreign-born, conniving, money-laundering wife, an impeccable portrayal. No matter what the world thinks of Irving, con man extraordinaire, Barrett makes this book about a bogus book as hair-raising, breathlessly paced, and suspenseful as any spy novel. M.T.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Hughes was definitely an eccentric and the subject of many tales. His favorite place to stay in Las Vegas was the Riviera Hotel. When he unexpectedly arrived and found the penthouse already taken he bought the hotel to make sure it would always be available. It was a favorite hotel for locals and when they gambled at night they were used to seeing him wandering through.