Have any of you been duped by an author?

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I have to admit something. I could not sleep one night several years back and I turned on the TV. My daughter was gettting ready to go over to the Middle East to serve in our military. I had many sleepless nights.

I saw CSpan and there was an author speaking about her book at some sort of book store. It was amazing. She was Jordanian. Here is an article that I searched out to document my tale.
books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1268998,00.html
(Norma Khouri wrote the book on Honor Killing)

OK, I could not get Norma’s tale out of my mind from that live book review. I searched out the book at my library. It was a New York Times Best Seller. I read the book and cried for this woman, and I recommended the book to my whole family. It was a very amazing story, and her story.

One of my daughters read the book and she stayed up all night crying over it too. She has a close friend that is Jordanian American and all we could both think of is how this type of thing could happen to someone like her friend if she had stayed in Jordan. I remember thinking that all my girls would be in danger living in the Middle East due to such harsh living conditions for women.

About 6 months later I read a Chicago Tribune article saying the author was a complete fake. She never lived there, fabricated the whole story. I was mad at CSpan, the New York Times, the publisher, etc.

This Oprah thing has pointed out how much we need the bloggers, since real business is not spending any of the profits even making sure the stories are true.

Anyone else read this Honor Killing book or have anther that they found out was fake.
 
Oh, yes. I was duped by an author once – Dan Somebodyorother who wrote this book about some secret society and that Jesus and Mary Magda…

Oh, wait.

Nevermind.

(sorry, couldn’t help myself!)
 
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thann:
Oh, yes. I was duped by an author once – Dan Somebodyorother who wrote this book about some secret society and that Jesus and Mary Magda…

Oh, wait.

Nevermind.

(sorry, couldn’t help myself!)
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Actually that book is a very good example of fiction that poses as reality.
 
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thann:
Oh, yes. I was duped by an author once – Dan Somebodyorother who wrote this book about some secret society and that Jesus and Mary Magda…

Oh, wait.

Nevermind.

(sorry, couldn’t help myself!)
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It is a book of fiction. Shame on you for not knowing the difference between fact and fiction.
~ Kathy ~
 
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Fitz:
Actually that book is a very good example of fiction that poses as reality.
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I detest books of fiction that pose as reality. I read the book “Bridges of Madison County” when it came out and thought it was an awful book total garbage, but it is presented as a true story based on journals that the woman’s children found. So after reading it and hating it, I thought, “well I guess the only redeeming quality is that it is based on a true story.” I thought for about a week or two that it was a true story. Sooo annoying!
 
I confess.

Back in the mid 80s when I read “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail” I tended to believe it. The authors of that book have since sued Dan Brown for taking their ideas.

I also got into the books of T. Lobsang Rampa, the teachings of this Tibetan lama. Unfortunately his real name was Cyril Hoskins, a British plumber.

There are probably others too - I read a lot of odd books as a child and teenager.

I was certainly into the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ and was misled enough in my thinking to believe that book while putting no credence to the Gospels in the Bible. Here’s a little page about that one:

home.swipnet.se/corbie/Fuskwww/newage.html

It answers a question - somebody on this board said they had heard that Jesus visited a magi community. Maybe the story they heard originated in the Aquarian Gospel rather than in Emmerich.
 
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aimee:
What about the press? Remember the J.Blair/Dan Rather reporting :rolleyes:
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There was another infamous reporter before Blair too, and I can’t remember his name- was it Glass?
 
When I was in college as a 20-something idiot, I fell into believing new age stuff like Paramanhansa Yogananda and Edward Cayce. It’s scary what the power of the printed media can do to undisciplined minds.

As much as we’d like to dismiss Dan Brown’s ideas (they’re trash, of course), we can’t dismiss the fact that people are believing this stuff. Just wait till kids see the movie. Jesus marrying Mary Magdelene *will be * part of America’s cultural mindset.
 
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Katie1723:
It is a book of fiction. Shame on you for not knowing the difference between fact and fiction.
~ Kathy ~
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Ummm, I hope you were kidding – because I thought I made it obvious in my post that I was…

'thann
 
Yes…

Books by “psychic” Edgar Casey when I bought into that stuff.

Books by Wayne Weible and other junk about Medjugorie

and junk from Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter.
 
I don’t know as I would use the word “Duped” but could have been led astray by the author, Fr. Joseph Girzone, of the Joshua books …

IMO, he tends to put the hierarchy of the church in a somewhat questionable light… Does anyone else feel this way?

Also in defense of the books …the first one, Joshua…was THE book that started me on my journey of “voracious” spiritual reading & ultimately where I am “Spiritually” today… 👍
 
Yes I was totally duped by James Frey’s A million Little Pieces. I have a son who is an addict and so much of what he wrote rang true. What a disappointment, I hope the money was worth all the pain he has caused.
 
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Lance:
Yes I was totally duped by James Frey’s A million Little Pieces. I have a son who is an addict and so much of what he wrote rang true. What a disappointment, I hope the money was worth all the pain he has caused.
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I saw the show where he was exposed by Oprah. If his book was advertised as fiction would you have thought it helpful? I am just wondering.
 
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Fitz:
I saw the show where he was exposed by Oprah. If his book was advertised as fiction would you have thought it helpful? I am just wondering.
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Probably, but I would have know that I was reading a work of fiction. I gave it to my son to read and now he is saying that Frey knows not of what he speaks.
 
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scriabin:
When I was in college as a 20-something idiot, I fell into believing new age stuff like Paramanhansa Yogananda and Edward Cayce. It’s scary what the power of the printed media can do to undisciplined minds.
Click to expand...
I never read Cayce (probably because his books didn’t turn up at car boot sales) but read Yogananda.

George Harrison once said his book “Autobiography of a Yogi” was his very favourite. And the rock band Yes based in entire 4 sides of a concept album on one footnote in the book. No wonder the album was so dull.

Christians get duped -

Back in the early 90s there was a “Christian comedian” who released albums. His testimony was that he was an ex-satanist who had a radical conversion. He founded a charity to help others. Trouble was his testimony was false and he embezzled 90% of the income of the charity. Glad to say I never bought his albums - I thought they were decidedly unhumorous.

Plenty of other Christian examples of course.
 
When I was in college I read “The Satan Seller” by Mike Warnke, who was my all time favorite Christian comedian (I found him at the same time downright hilarious and down to earth). I was shocked when I learned his story was totally false.
 
Has anyone heard of Ned Dougherty Highway to Heaven. Some people in our church are reading this book and touting to others. It seems very New Age to me. Does anyone have any info on this. He is giving a seminar this weekend in our town and I heard some people from the church are goiing.

Peace Mare
 
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