BUSTED! Plagiarists, Fakers & Literary Hoaxes

[Smilla]

Also, Sleepers, the novel-turned-movie by Lorenzo Carraterra, has pretty much been debunked as fiction.

WHAT? My innocence!!

[lolad]

chonies said:

lolad said:

I'm a librarian in a public library and one thing they always emphasize is no judgement-no matter what title the patron is asking for. Sometimes that's hard. I'm not a lit snob, I could care less if people want to read Nora Roberts or John Grisham or what have you. But it's the type of stuff that's mentioned in this thread that's hard for me. I want to say, "You know that's fake-right?" But I don't.

Not to get too far off topic, but I find this really interesting, ethics-wise. I am in library school, and I teach an information literacy course, which is bibliographic instruction mixed with some other mayhem. Since it's a college course, there's a lot of emphasis on evaluating resources, appropriateness for research, etc. I am interested in the reasoning behind the policy of not informing people that the book they are about to read is fake, plagiarized, etc. I can understand the customer-service aspect of not wanting to be antagonistic and snobby, but from a content p.o.v. I'm kind of intrigued.

Please don't think I'm sassing you, lolad. I love philosophical chats on biblio matters.

You can sass me all you want! We library folk have to stick together. I think it's first and foremost a customer service issue. The library I work at is very heavy on the popular/bestseller type of material and I think they're trying to move to the "bookstore model" of libraries. Part of that is trying to get past the stereotype of stern, disapproving librarians. As far as my personal feelings, it really depends on the situation. If a person comes up asking for a specific book, I generally find it for them without comment. But if someone is looking for info on a particular topic, I'm a little more forthcoming with my personal opinions on different resources.

And for the record, Go Ask Alice is in our fiction section.

[Deleted]

Go Ask Alice is in our fiction section too, Young Adult Fiction to be more precise.

I always inwardly roll my eyes when I get requests for things that I find to be personally objectionable, like anything by Ann Cooulter or Bill O'Reilly. But outwardly I'm as helpful as possible. It's a public library so it's just part of the job. Luckily for me I live in Massachusetts, Land of the Liberal Democrats. So we don't get too many requests for the ultra-conservative stuff.

Personally, people asking for The Secret make me roll my eyes more than the conservatives. I always have to restrain myself from shaking them and yelling, "It's all bullshit you moron!"

[incognito]

roisin54 said:

I always inwardly roll my eyes when I get requests for things that I find to be personally objectionable, like anything by Ann Cooulter or Bill O'Reilly. But outwardly I'm as helpful as possible. It's a public library so it's just part of the job. Luckily for me I live in Massachusetts, Land of the Liberal Democrats. So we don't get too many requests for the ultra-conservative stuff.

Personally, people asking for The Secret make me roll my eyes more than the conservatives. I always have to restrain myself from shaking them and yelling, "It's all bullshit you moron!"

Well, to be fair you don't know if people are reading those books in the vein of "know thy enemy", so to speak. It's like how a lot of atheists still read the Bible so that they can effectively debate it with Christians.

Unless the library patron is saying things like, "I want Ann Coulter's new book, I think she's just the best. Don't you?"

[Deleted]

The request for Ann Coulter's or Bill O'Reilly's books is usually accompanied by some comment about how the damn liberals are destroying America. It's sad really.

[susyhomewrecker]

roisin54 said:

Personally, people asking for The Secret make me roll my eyes more than the conservatives. I always have to restrain myself from shaking them and yelling, "It's all bullshit you moron!"

OH GOD, "The Secret!" I refuse to read it on principle. My step-sister tried to sell me (and my mom and step-dad) on it at Christmas, and I just rolled my eyes at her. She said, "But it will change your life! Like if all you think about is bills, then you'll get more and more..." Um, okay. I'm pretty sure my phone bill comes once a month whether I want it to or not.

[Deleted]

Chiming in about "The Secret". The whole "you must have been thinking negative thoughts for that bad thing to have happened to you" creeps me out. I wonder if the people who think it's awesome actually consider what that means for people who, say, had cancer, or got hit by natural disasters.

[Yossarian]

jane said:

Chiming in about "The Secret". The whole "you must have been thinking negative thoughts for that bad thing to have happened to you" creeps me out. I wonder if the people who think it's awesome actually consider what that means for people who, say, had cancer, or got hit by natural disasters.

ITA. And the flip side of that is the assumption that if you have success or if you have wealth that you have done something positive and good. Um, really? I'm not sure the dudes at Haliburton who have made a fortune out of their various dealings were *successful* through chanelling positive energy.

[susyhomewrecker]

jane said:

Chiming in about "The Secret". The whole "you must have been thinking negative thoughts for that bad thing to have happened to you" creeps me out. I wonder if the people who think it's awesome actually consider what that means for people who, say, had cancer, or got hit by natural disasters.

Seriously! Lately in the news, scientists have been predicting a huge earthquake on a fault just over the hill from my house. Step-sister's take? "Well, if you believe it will happen, then it will!" This extends to buying emergency supplies. The only ones spared from devastation and injury will be the ones who have read "The Secret," no doubt.

This is the same girl who thinks I'm wasting my time by reading my horoscope every morning. For the two seconds that takes.

[crivens]

smilla said:

...Must...Not...Post...best example of plagiarism I can think of...must get mod approval first...

Well? Did you get permission?