The Nation: Comparing the Two Manuscripts

WELL before Clifford Irving's conspiracy began to crumble, he made a tantalizing observation to his former attorney, Martin Ackerman. "You know, I was more of an editor than a writer on this project," he said. At the time, that remark seemed a possible reference to the editing of taped interviews with Hughes, but the damning truth now shows through in a comparison of Irving's manuscript with one prepared for former Hughes Aide Noah Dietrich by Reporter James Phelan. Irving brought considerable editorial ingenuity to reworking parts of the Phelan story in order to...

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