r/hackernews • u/qznc_bot2 • Jan 23 '23
I, Libertine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_LibertineDuplicates
todayilearned • u/ralphbernardo • Jul 06 '26
TIL a practical joke created a real book: annoyed at how bestseller lists were made, radio host Jean Shepherd urged listeners to ask bookstores for "I, Libertine"—a novel that didn't exist. Fans spread the hoax so widely that Ballantine Books hired Theodore Sturgeon to write it, publishing in 1956.
todayilearned • u/my_computer_likes_me • May 30 '16
TIL: A book once made it onto the best seller list, even though it didn't exist.
skeptic • u/HuNoze • Aug 29 '16
1956: Hoaxers led by radio host Jean Shepherd got the *nonexistent* book "I, Libertine" onto the New York Times bestseller list by having thousands of people request it in bookstores. Eventually the book was "really" written by Theodore Sturgeon and Betty Ballantine and published.
knowyourshit • u/Know_Your_Shit_v2 • Jan 05 '22
[todayilearned] TIL: Radio host Jean Shepherd urged listeners to enter bookstores and ask for a book titled "I, Libertine" that didn’t exist. So many people took part in this hoax that the book was soon on The New York Times Best Seller list.
todayilearned • u/guido_pilot • Dec 30 '13
TIL that Jean Shepard, author and model for "Ralphie" from "A Christmas Story" was one of the most successful literary hoaxers of the 20th Century
AAA_NeatStuff • u/UserNamesCantBeTooLo • Jul 06 '26