Faking It
For years, literary con artist Lee Israel forged letters by late literary greats like Dorothy Parker and Noel Coward. She duped collectors and historians with her fakery and eight different typewriters. Also, design historian Steven Heller talks about his Iron Fists: Branding the 20th Century Totalitarian State, describing the ingenious ways Hitler, Mussolini, and Mao used symbols, graphics, and design for propaganda and control.
By Kurt Andersen • • 1 min readFor years, literary con artist Lee Israel forged letters by late literary greats like Dorothy Parker and Noel Coward. Hear how she duped collectors and historians with her fakery and eight different typewriters. Israel's new memoir is called, Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger Also, design historian Steven Heller talks with Kurt about his new book, Iron Fists: Branding the 20th Century Totalitarian State. Heller describes the ingenious ways dictators like Hitler, Mussolini, and Mao used symbols, graphics, and design for propaganda and control.
Banner image: Detail of 1969 propaganda poster depicting Mao as an artist, from Steven Heller's Iron Fists: Branding the 20th Century Totalitarian State