Riverhead "Saddened" by Love and Consequences Scandal
-- Publishers Weekly, 3/4/2008 10:58:00 AM
In a statement released Tuesday, Riverhead said it was "saddened" by the revelations in the New York Times' story about the wholly fabricated memoir it published in February, Love and Consequences. After the Times' reported that author Margaret Seltzer, writing under the pseudonym Margaret B. Jones, had invented the entirety of her book, about growing up a gang member in South Central L.A., the Penguin imprint issued an explanation revealing how it had been duped by its author.
Pointing to a case in which an author went to great lengths to lie, the imprint cited a "great deal of evidence" that Seltzer provided to support her story, including photos, letters and even supposed family members. (Seltzer introduced her agent to people who claimed to be her foster siblings). The imprint added, in the statement, that it "relies on authors to tell us the truth" and that authors promise as much by signing the contract.
The imprint is recalling all copies of the book--according to a rep at Penguin 24,000 copies were printed, 19,000 of which have been shipped--in addition to canceling the author's tour.
