The Untruth About Howard Hughes’ Life

From this book’s introduction to its final page, every word is a lie. All of the interviews are manufactured, all the quotes conjecture, each and every anecdote a fake.

The book is “The Autobiography of Howard Hughes”--until now, the most famous unpublished book of the century.

More than 27 years ago, author Clifford Irving almost convinced the world that he had helped Hughes write the story of his life. By then, Hughes--the billionaire Hollywood star-maker and aviation pioneer--had become an emaciated, germ-phobic recluse whose health and whereabouts were a source of constant global speculation.

Nevertheless, Irving was able to convince the publishing world that he had interviewed Hughes. When Irving finally confessed that it was all a hoax, he was sent to jail for 17 months and most of the early manuscripts were destroyed.

Irving, now rehabilitated and wealthy enough to live in comfortable near-retirement in Santa Fe, N.M., has become an investor and part-owner of Terrificbooks. Its first order of business is to publish the Hughes bio.

Even now, Irving defends his work as more than an elaborate deceit. As he told one book reviewer, “I wrote the autobiography of the life Howard Hughes would have lived if he dared.”

The book is being marketed only online at https://www.terrificbooks.com or by phone order at (800) 291-1713.

Like Hughes himself, the bogus biography still fascinates. But is it fiction?

Does it matter? Irving won’t say but promises to answer that and other reader questions online in the Terrificbooks.com chat room.