The cover of Can You Ever Forgive Me? includes the typewritten, x’ed-out names of several of the prominent people whose letters Israel forged, including Parker, along with Israel’s signature, which, presumably, is genuine. With its mention of a hangover that’s “a real museum piece,” is it any wonder that Israel’s work fooled so many people for so long? Below is a sample of Israel channeling Dorothy Parker, including the line that became the book’s title. Israel then sold the forgeries for about $100 apiece - until she was arrested and sentenced to probation and house arrest. So she acquired a small arsenal of manual typewriters - Royals, Remingtons, Olympias - and after some judicious research began forging typewritten letters and the signatures of their famous “authors,” including Dorothy Parker, Noël Coward, the silent film star Louise Brooks, Lillian Hellman, and many others. Lee Israel had written biographies of Tallulah Bankhead, Dorothy Kilgallen, and Estée Lauder before her writing career hit a rough patch in the 1990s. This is one of those rare instances when the story behind the book is almost better than the cover or the book itself. It’s my little analog hymn to the human touch and to the eternal beauty of ink on paper.Ĭan You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger by Lee Israel So here are a few of the typewritten covers that have caught my eye recently. They also hint at the most central of truths: no piece of writing is ever truly finished. Simply put, these covers convey that writing is a messy business, a jumble of ideas, a string of false starts and dead ends and restarts. But the bigger reason these covers have caught my eye and captured my heart is because they’ve so ingeniously captured the essence of the writing process. No doubt one reason I’ve noticed these book covers - and responded so warmly to them - is because I write on a Royal manual typewriter that was built in 1948 and still works like new. They were made by a machine but they reveal a human touch, and they’re the opposite of the chilly perfection of computer-generated type, including that ersatz, too-perfect font known as “American Typewriter.” Many of these covers include x’ed-out or crossed-out words. The letters don’t quite line up, the spacing is uneven, the darkness of the impression varies from letter to letter because the keys were struck with erratic pressure. Though wildly different in concept and composition, these covers share something I find irresistible: the words are typewritten, usually on erratic old machines that result in subtle imperfections. Lately I’ve been noticing something that might qualify as a trend in book covers. Yes, I’m also a sucker for blurbs, especially if they’re written by somebody I know, admire, or envy. I drink in everything about the dust jackets on hardcovers and the skins on paperbacks - the font of the title and author name, the artwork, the flap copy, the author photo and bio, the credit for the cover designer, even the blurbs. Like many avid readers, I’m a sucker for book covers.
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