Can You Ever Forgive Me

I saw the movie first in this instance. It starred Melissa McCarthy. It was based on an autobiographical book by Lee Isreal. I just read the book. While the content of the book is producing and selling forged letters by celebrities, it feels like that is just a backdrop to give you a peek into Israel's life.

Israel started out good as a New York Times bestseller. But them she came upon hard times. She used her research skills to figure out what type of letters celebrities may have written. Then she wrote then and passed them off as originals. She made sure to use old paper to make them look authentic.

After a while, people began to catch onto the fakes. So Israel started stealing actual letters. She would leave fake copies behind in the libraries. She would sometimes add content to the originals to make them more interesting (and more valuable).

The collectors got wise again. So Israel used a co-conspirator to pawn off the forgeries. Even that was discovered. The FBI got involved. Israel feared jail time. She destroyed all evidence, and obtained help from a lawyer. She did plead guilty and only received house arrest.

After this debacle, Israel got a job as a copyeditor for children's books. Her co-conspirator died before being sent to jail.