
A Suspense Novelist’s Trail of Deceptions - smacktoward
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/02/11/a-suspense-novelists-trail-of-deceptions
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ggambetta
> Pamela Mallory, Dan’s mother, does seem to be a private person: her
> Instagram account is locked.

I found this hilarious. I'd have guessed "a private person" wouldn't have an
Instagram account at all! What a time to be alive.

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projectramo
This to me was actually quite an optimistic story.

It seems to me that Dan is a talented writer who can milk a sob story. In
order to get ahead in life -- admissions, sympathy -- he would concoct very
elaborate and heart breaking stories.

The reason I find this optimistic is that it worked. People really feel bad
for each other, want to help each other, make allowances for each other and
trust each other.

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silvester23
> He claimed that he had two Ph.D.s: his Highsmith-related dissertation, from
> Oxford, and one from the psychology department of an American university,
> for research into Munchausen syndrome. There’s no evidence that Mallory ever
> undertook such research.

Well, there was your first hint right there. Fascinating story, vaguely
reminds me of Andrew Cunanan.

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pseudolus
He might be smug and self-assured but there's no denying that he has a sense
of humour. I expect that this will aid his "rehabilitation" and reinsertion
into the literary world. He'll probably end up selling the rights to his life
story for more than he made on his book.

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and-y1
It's amazing that people can still fake it til they make it when it's so easy
to check people's claims. Confidence will take you far even when you've got an
Instagram account.

