Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs Of A Literary Forger (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
Put this book down after finishing it and my first thought was, "This is not a pleasant lady"Uncomfortable and hard to take mixture of smugness, mock self-deprecation and serious self-pity. She seemed to be simultaneously making excuses for herself while denying that she really did anything wrong in the first place. As a piece of work it's very well put together, four star worthy, but the content was hard to take. Would never read again, hence the single star. A very slim, but quite entertaining memoir. If there's an archetype of the eccentric Manhattanite, Israel fits the bill; her own voice is so entertaining that I wish she'd written more under her own name, instead of turning to forgeries for the cash. Her unrepentant justifications are far more refreshing than the evasive doublespeak one usually hears from white-collar criminals. Yes, I think I can forgive her.
What do You think about Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs Of A Literary Forger (2008)?
Interesting, and very brief account of her crimes as a forgery artist.
—chand
Surprisingly snarky and well-written, if a bit grandiose at times.
—fengwang
