I've been fascinated for a few days now with the story of author Margaret "Peggy" Seltzer and her fake memoir, Love and Consequences.
Seltzer wanted others to believe that she was Margaret B. Jones, AKA "Bree," a half-white, half Native American woman who spent her youth as a foster child in South Central Los Angeles. Her book received cushy coverage from the New York Times after the its release, and that was Seltzer's undoing. Her own sister called the Times to let them know the memoir was fiction. Truth was, Peggy Seltzer was a thoroughly white Valley Girl who attended the same private school made famous a few years after her graduation by students like the Olsen Twins.
Seltzer came clean and the book was pulled off the shelves. Naturally, everyone in the print media started going at the story hammer and tongs.
There may not be any major crime to write about here, but a literary fraud is still a fraud.
So I dug up some interesting stuff on Peggy Seltzer and the results have been published by Radar:
I guess I took it as a personal challenge when FishbowlLA wrote, "Motoko Rich owns the Peggy Seltzer story, and don't even think of nabbing a tiny bit of it." Sorry, FishbowlLA -- that was just like waving a red flag in front of me. Motoko Rich at the Times really does own the majority of the story, but I took a big juicy bite, couldn't help it.
I would also appreciate comments on the story at its location -- Radar requires a very brief registration, but it's worth your time if you want to leave comments on other stories later.
I wasn't able to include everything I found related to Seltzer's online life in the Radar piece. I'm still working those angles, because they are truly weird and fascinating. If I can't come up with something solid enough for the paying gig, you may hear more about it in this space.
I have to admit -- something about this story pissed me off, personally. How many times have people with real stories been bypassed by the publishing industry in favor of fabulists like Seltzer and James Frey? And what is it with these writers from privileged backgrounds creating narratives about hardships they never experienced? There's just something galling as hell about literary liars like Margaret Seltzer. I think Seltzer may have had an altruistic desire to give a voice to people like the characters she created, but what she really did was expose an incredibly condescending, peculiarly American viewpoint held by many from privileged circumstances.
Much of the commentary I've read about Love and Consequences has focused on asking why Seltzer's editor and publishers didn't fact-check her. While that's a perfectly valid question, the most important question to me is this -- who the hell did she think she was? Folks should be asking, "how dare she?"
OK -- proto-rant over. Go read what I wrote and follow the links to get a fuller understanding of the story, and why it pissed me off.
NOTES:
FishbowlLA gives a nod to the scoopage described above -- thanks, Kate.
Kevin Allman also takes note and follows up on an angle I couldn't fit into the Radar piece -- potentially a very interesting, strange angle at that. Go for it, Kevin.
Young Manhattanite acknowledges the find and spanks those crazy kids at Gawker a bit in the process.
Seltzer wanted others to believe that she was Margaret B. Jones, AKA "Bree," a half-white, half Native American woman who spent her youth as a foster child in South Central Los Angeles. Her book received cushy coverage from the New York Times after the its release, and that was Seltzer's undoing. Her own sister called the Times to let them know the memoir was fiction. Truth was, Peggy Seltzer was a thoroughly white Valley Girl who attended the same private school made famous a few years after her graduation by students like the Olsen Twins.
Seltzer came clean and the book was pulled off the shelves. Naturally, everyone in the print media started going at the story hammer and tongs.
There may not be any major crime to write about here, but a literary fraud is still a fraud.
So I dug up some interesting stuff on Peggy Seltzer and the results have been published by Radar:
"Seltzer Honed Homegirl Hosejob on AOL."Do me a favor if you like the story and recommend it -- because dammit, I scooped everyone on this score. I scooped the Times, which has covered this story closely since Seltzer confessed her deception. I scooped Gawker.com, the infamous gossip blog, and they've been all over this story.
I guess I took it as a personal challenge when FishbowlLA wrote, "Motoko Rich owns the Peggy Seltzer story, and don't even think of nabbing a tiny bit of it." Sorry, FishbowlLA -- that was just like waving a red flag in front of me. Motoko Rich at the Times really does own the majority of the story, but I took a big juicy bite, couldn't help it.
I would also appreciate comments on the story at its location -- Radar requires a very brief registration, but it's worth your time if you want to leave comments on other stories later.
I wasn't able to include everything I found related to Seltzer's online life in the Radar piece. I'm still working those angles, because they are truly weird and fascinating. If I can't come up with something solid enough for the paying gig, you may hear more about it in this space.
I have to admit -- something about this story pissed me off, personally. How many times have people with real stories been bypassed by the publishing industry in favor of fabulists like Seltzer and James Frey? And what is it with these writers from privileged backgrounds creating narratives about hardships they never experienced? There's just something galling as hell about literary liars like Margaret Seltzer. I think Seltzer may have had an altruistic desire to give a voice to people like the characters she created, but what she really did was expose an incredibly condescending, peculiarly American viewpoint held by many from privileged circumstances.
Much of the commentary I've read about Love and Consequences has focused on asking why Seltzer's editor and publishers didn't fact-check her. While that's a perfectly valid question, the most important question to me is this -- who the hell did she think she was? Folks should be asking, "how dare she?"
OK -- proto-rant over. Go read what I wrote and follow the links to get a fuller understanding of the story, and why it pissed me off.
NOTES:
FishbowlLA gives a nod to the scoopage described above -- thanks, Kate.
Kevin Allman also takes note and follows up on an angle I couldn't fit into the Radar piece -- potentially a very interesting, strange angle at that. Go for it, Kevin.
Young Manhattanite acknowledges the find and spanks those crazy kids at Gawker a bit in the process.
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