library opens a card file on author frederick ewing a new york times columnist does a write-up of the book the village voice reviews it calling it a rousing swashbuckler and a must read various newspapers begin printing articles about i libertine offering their intellectual opinions and before long the night listeners start to get a pretty good idea of just how many of these list makers reviewers and self-proclaimed bookworms are actually total frauds by now i was a little afraid you know next thing you know the president's gonna mention you know that he loves this book see then i wouldn't believe in anything articles mentioning i libertine appear in life newsweek and time magazine as seven weeks into the scheme it was listed as a nationwide bestseller in rome paris and london then finally august rolls around and shepard gets a call from a wall street journal reporter who has spent the better part of the past few months trying to get to the bottom of eye libertine that's right one reporter finally brave enough to go against the grain or realize the book is a total lie and track down its origins he convinces gene to go on record and the following day the story breaks front page middle section the emperor has no clothes eye libertine doesn't exist and anyone claiming to have read it were lying to follow the trend so ask yourself this why did it take so long for folks to realize the papers and literary critics were lying to them why was everybody lying to each other and if you were in new york in NUMBER_TOKEN and somebody asked what you thought about the new smash hit ewing's eye libertine what would you have said maybe the most important question what are the eye libertines everyone's reading today oh by the way the story does have a bit of a lighter ending the whole business was such a talk around the world that shepard was quickly approached by a publishing house that offered to write an actual i libertine book to capitalize on the frenzy by the middle of september i libertine from author theodore sturgeon using the pen name frederick ewing hit shelves and became an actual best seller the author photo on the inside cover none other than gene shepard doing his very best author impression trying to look as dissolute as possible shepard made sure that the book's proceeds went to charity this video is sponsored by squarespace they can help you put together a beautiful website in no time and that's no lie start by selecting from one of their many stunning templates and then customize it to your specific needs if you're an aspiring podcaster their audio and video blocks will be right up your alley their all new member areas feature makes it easy to build an online community if you want to sell something they make it easy to set up an online storefront you can get started today by visiting URL_TOKEN to start a free trial when you're ready to launch your site head over to URL_TOKEN austinmcconnell to save NUMBER_TOKEN percent on your first purchase of a website or domain
START_SPONSOR_TOKEN charity this video is sponsored by squarespace they can help you put together a beautiful website in no time and that's no lie start by selecting from one of their many stunning templates and then customize it to your specific needs if you're an aspiring podcaster their audio and video blocks will be right up your alley their all new member areas feature makes it easy to build an online community if you want to sell something they make it easy to set up an online storefront you can get started today by visiting URL_TOKEN to start a free trial when you're ready to launch your site head over to URL_TOKEN austinmcconnell to save NUMBER_TOKEN percent on your first purchase of a website or domain END_SPONSOR_TOKEN