THE HOAX

For Clifford Irving it was to be boom or bust. He chose to go for broke and pulled the most sensational hoax involving Howard Hughes, a prestigious New York publishing house and over a million dollars. It made global newspaper headlines and was heralded as the biggest media scam of all time. The Hoax recreates Irving''s audacious literary sting when he convinced a US publisher that Howard Hughes, the reclusive billionaire, had commissioned him to write his authorized biography. A frantic year ensued while Irving forged letters and passports, faked interviews, set up a Swiss bank account and travelled thousands of miles to maintain his story, all the while desperately trying to juggle a wife, a mistress and an editor. Gradually the cracks in the plot started to appear and the nightmare began. Before he knew it, Irving realized he was set on a crash course towards indictment, conviction and jail.