Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Gang Memoir Exposed as Fiction

Author of Love and Consequences fesses up to fabricating

By Caroline Miller,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 4, 2008 7:50 AM CST
Email

(Newser) – Margaret Jones' acclaimed memoir of a half-Native American girl growing up in a foster home in South Central LA and running with gangs, Love and Consequences, turns out to be fiction, the New York Times reports. Jones, whose real name is Seltzer, grew up with her birth parents in an affluent LA neighborhood; she was busted when her sister spotted her photo in a Times feature about the book and called her publisher.

Seltzer told the Times in a tearful interview that the book was based on experiences of people she met working to reduce gang violence in LA, and that she fabricated the memoir to tell their stories. "I just felt that there was good that I could do and there was no other way that someone would listen to it.” Her publisher, Riverhead, has recalled the book and canceled a book tour. "There’s a huge personal betrayal here as well as a professional one,” said Jones' disappointed editor.  

Author Margaret Jones - real name Margaret Seltzer - has admitted that 'Love and Consequences' isn't a true story but insists that the details of the book are the true experiences of her friends.
Author Margaret Jones - real name Margaret Seltzer - has admitted that 'Love and Consequences' isn't a true story but insists that the details of the book are the true experiences of her friends.   ((c) Bonard)
Author Margaret B. Jones wrote about her life as a half-white, half-Native American girl growing up in South-Central Los Angeles as a foster child among gang members and running drugs for the Bloods. Her memoir was revealed to be a fake when her sister called the publisher to let them...
Author Margaret B. Jones wrote about her life as a half-white, half-Native American girl growing up in South-Central Los Angeles as a foster child among gang members and running drugs for the Bloods....   ((c) solidstate_)
Love and Consequences, the critically acclaimed memoir of gang life has been revealed by author Margaret B. Jones, pictured, to have been a fabrication.
"Love and Consequences," the critically acclaimed memoir of gang life has been revealed by author Margaret B. Jones, pictured, to have been a fabrication.   (us.penguingroup.com)
Gang graffiti is painted on the sidewalk on 103rd Street in front of David Starr Jordan High School in the Watts district of Los Angeles in this file photo. Author Margaret Jones has had her memoir of running drugs for LA gangs as a child exposed as a fake. (AP...
Gang graffiti is painted on the sidewalk on 103rd Street in front of David Starr Jordan High School in the Watts district of Los Angeles in this file photo. Author Margaret Jones has had her memoir of...   (Associated Press)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

Review of 'Love and Consequences' - from before the lie was uncovered
New York Times

Author's sister blows whistle on phony LA memoir
Los Angeles Times

Fake memoirs raises questions
Mediabistro

 
gangs • Los Angeles • fiction • publishing • memoir • author • book • fabrication • Penguin Group • Margaret Jones • Margaret Seltzer • South Central LA • Riverhead • Love and Consequences

More Newser Stories

Palin Memoir a Gift to Booksellers
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne