Naked Came the Stranger
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The book Naked Came the Stranger was a literary hoax perpetrated by several well-known writers and critics in 1969.
Mike McGrady, a well-known Newsday columnist, recruited an all-male team of fellow hoaxers to collaborate on a sexually explicit novel with no literary or social value whatsoever. Writing under the pseudonym Penelope Ashe (portrayed by McGrady's sister-in-law for photographs and meetings with publishers), the group wrote the book as a deliberately inconsistent and mediocre hodge-podge, with each chapter written by a different author. Some of the chapters had to be heavily edited, because they were originally too well-written.
In the novel, a suburban housewife named Gillian Blake becomes angry at her unfaithful husband, and plans to have sex with every married man in her Long Island neighborhood.
Fulfilling McGrady's cynical expectations, the book was wildly successful; however, as sales continued to increase, many of the co-authors felt guilty about the large amounts of money they were earning, and went public.
Subsequently, McGrady and his collaborators were approached about writing a sequel; they refused.
The authors included the ringleader Mike McGrady, John Cummings, Harvey Aaronson, Bill McIlwain, and George Vecsey.
External link
- Museum of Hoaxes - Naked Came the Stranger (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/stranger.html)