As Long As It Isn’t True: A Literary Scandals Podcast

After her writing career as a biographer was destroyed by a book that tanked, as well as her off-putting personality, Lee Israel fell into poverty and began forging letters and literary documents of prominent 20th-century authors. She was so good at slipping into the words and minds of others that some of her forgeries even made their way into an early edition of a 2007 biography on Noël Coward. But like all good career criminals, ...

“You can’t translate poetry into prose. That’s why it’s poetry.”

At a poetry reading at a San Francisco art gallery in October 1955, Allen Ginsberg — one of the defining members of the Beat generation — debuted a poem called "Howl." Lauded for its portrayal of what it meant to be an outcast in 1950s society and for its depiction of drug use and sexuality, its success led to Ginsberg's first collection of poetry. Within five months o...

“Rapidly growing interest in the subject of homosexuality has made novels on this theme a big seller...”

Happy Pride Month! After one publishing house started finding success with publishing books focusing on themes of homosexuality in the late 1940s and early 1950s, they began keeping a mailing list of those interested in gay books. But the United States Postal Service started catching on, and the publishers were indicted on obscen...

"It is most damnable! It is written by a man with a diseased mind and a soul so black that he would obscure even the darkness of hell!"

When British author D.H. Lawrence first published one of his last novels, Lady Chatterley's Lover, in 1928, he knew it was going to stir up controversy. Some might even say he wrote it that way on purpose, a result of career-long persecution and harassment from the British government for not adherin...

"He's a writer, you know, they don't tell everything that's factual and true..."

When Oprah Winfrey chose James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces for her book club in 2005, she had no idea the kind of monster she was about to endorse. This episode of As Long As It Isn't True investigates how large portions of A Million Little Pieces, which was originally marketed as a memoir, turned out to be wholly fabricated and completely false...

"If you turn over a rock in these small towns, you just never know what you’ll find."

In 1956, young mother and housewife Grace Metalious published Peyton Place, her debut novel, which would go on to become one of the highest-selling books ever published. But it was also considered scandalous and dirty for its portrayal of sex, adultery, incest, and abortion. On this month's episode, we're looking into how Peyton Place wasn't actual...

Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes were just two poets who fell in love, until gender roles, mental illness, and misogyny got in the way. Our sophomore episode is diving into their marriage, Plath's life and craft, and how Hughes and his sister took advantage of Plath's work after her suicide at the age of 30.

Additional narrations were provided by Sharon Hyland. Theme music is credited to Wendy Marcini, Elvin Vanguard, and Jules Gaia.

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After making it big as the author of Breakfast at Tiffany's and then the grandfather of the non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood, American author Truman Capote set out to write his magnum opus, a literary work of art that would rival Marcel Proust. But the book, Answered Prayers, became the greatest novel that never was, due to high-society outrage and inner demons...

Additional narrations in this episode were provided by Sharon Hyland....