The Fabulist (Shattered Glass) by Stephen Glass Review

The Fabulist Book Review

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I like this book despite the fact that it’s very biased fiction/ non-fiction account of what Stephen Glass did, written by Stephen Glass himself. The guy is slimy. Lying and plagiarizing, undermining the very principles of writing for newspapers and the code of ethics for journalism. He should have started off as a novelist and then he wouldn’t have destroyed is career as a newspaper columnist…oh wait, if he had been honest and tried his hand at writing fiction legitimately he probably wouldn’t have gotten published right? It takes a controversy these days to catch the interest of many of the bigger publishers out there.

Anyway, The Fabulist novel is interesting and gives some insight (although very biased in Stephen’s favor) of what poor Stephen had to go through when he got caught lying about his articles. You do feel sorry for him by the time the book is done and wish him the best for the future. If anything, you have to give the guy credit for his ability to spin a good yarn. I bought the book for about three dollars at a used book store. I’m glad I didn’t spend more on it. Although it wasn’t badly written and it was interesting, there’s just something about supporting a liar and giving him more money then he deserves that doesn’t sit well with me.

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Shattered Glass Movie Review

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Starring: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny, Steven Sahn

Wow, now a day’s not only can you get a book deal when you are a liar and a plagiarist but you can get a movie deal too!

At least The Fabulist film adaptation offers a less biased perspective on what happened when Stephen Glass was caught in his tangle of lies. The movie paints him as the slime-ball that he is and as you’re watching you really don’t feel that sorry for him. Good job Hayden Christensen.

I would have been pissed if I had worked with Stephen Glass and been gullible enough to fall for his lies…and I probably would have been one of the gullible ones because I tend to fight for the wrongly accused victims and challenge authority quite a lot, even if I’m doing it purely on the faith that no one would be slimy enough to break the code and lie about “true events”.

The Shattered Glass movie is good, although it does drag a little here and there. I don’t know if you could possibly make this story exciting, really it’s just about a guy who gets caught in a bunch of lies about writing. I think you’d have to be a writer or appreciate the ethics of journalism to understand how profoundly crappy it was for Stephen to do that to his readers, employer and colleagues.

If you want a real treat, you should watch the interview in the extra features of the DVD. Stephen Glass himself tries to explain his motivation and defend his decisions… as I said the guy really comes across as a slime-ball…totally untrustworthy.

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