The Poet and the Murderer by Simon Worrall
The true story of a brilliantly forged Emily Dickinson poem sold at Sotheby's in 1997. The author's detective work led him across America, to a prison cell in Salt Lake City, where the world's greatest literary forger, Mark Hofmann, is serving a life sentence for double-murder.
This remarkable piece of non-fiction tells the story of a forger of manuscripts who became a double murderer in order to avoid detectionBorn into a Mormon community, Mark Hoffman began his criminal activity by 'discovering' a series of texts relating to the foundation of the religion. He then forged and managed to pass off as authentic a variety of manuscripts apparently by various American historical and literary figures. One of these was a poem by Emily Dickinson, which was bought by a library in Amherst in 1997 for $21,000. Worrall begins with the Dickinson affair, and works backwards in a book which manages to reflect compellingly and informatively upon Mormonism, forgery, Dickinson and the trade in rare manuscripts. Stranger than fiction, indeed.
Simon Worrall was born in Wellington, England in 1951, and spent his childhood in East Africa. He has worked as a dramaturge and a playwright, and taught English in China. His journalism has been published in a variety of national newspapers and magazines, including the Observer, the Sunday Times and the New Yorker. He lives in East Hampton, New York.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781841155869 |
| ISBN 10 | 1841155861 |
| Title | The Poet and the Murderer |
| Author | Simon Worrall |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Year published | 2002-08-19 |
| Number of pages | 336 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |