'DP' alum releases book on fabricating news

Merriam-Webster has two definitions for the three-syllable "fabulist" -- "1: a creator or writer of fables, 2: LIAR."

The second is perhaps the more appropriate, at least for Penn alumnus Stephen Glass, whose newly released book's title -- The Fabulist -- sums up what he was doing until five years ago, when his reputation and journalistic ambitions came crashing down around him.

Glass himself was a fabulist in a profession that values accuracy -- the New Republic finally fired Glass in 1998 after discovering the fictitious characters in his "Hack Heaven," and later discovered fabrications in 27 of his 41 stories.

Following national embarrassment, Glass all but disappeared, only to emerge five years later, complete with a law degree from Georgetown University and a new book.

This time, Glass has returned to his forte -- fiction. Although highly autobiographical, Simon & Schuster's The Fabulist is the admittedly fictitious story of a young writer named Stephen Glass whose life resembles that of his doppelganger.

"While this novel was inspired by certain events in my life, it does not recount the actual events of my life," Glass' author's note states.

Still, it was in journalism's cold, hard facts -- at least ostensibly -- where Glass got his start. A former Daily Pennsylvanian executive editor who began freelancing for the New Republic in 1995, Glass soon emerged as an up-and-coming young writer. After all, his stories were interesting ones that everyone wanted to read, complete with the perfect anecdotes and the perfect quotes.

"Everything around him turned out to be incredibly vivid or zany or in some way memorable," said current New Republic Literary Editor Leon Wieseltier in a 60 Minutes interview Sunday night.

Charles Lane, a current Washington Post staff writer and Glass' editor at the New Republic, said he believes there is more to the story than simply Glass' desire for acceptance.

"He's portraying this as though he did it because he felt a desperate need to be loved," Lane said. "You had to be there at the time to see the sort of evident thrill he had in doing all this. He reveled in all this deception. I don't think he was doing this so reluctantly."

It is unclear just when Glass' deception began. Baltimore Sun reporter and former DP Managing Editor -- who worked with Glass -- Scott Calvert said that although he has no reason to doubt Glass' work at the DP, looking back, there is one suspect story Glass wrote for The Summer Pennsylvanian -- in "A Day on the Streets," Glass claims to have encountered an AIDS victim who peddled acid sheets at Grateful Dead concerts, a prostitute, a gigolo and two convicted murders, many of whom use crack and make articulate statements such as "I now break all my needles so that I too don't get AIDS from drugs" and "This crack is my husband, and this glass pipe is his dick," all in a 24-hour period.

"I would tell a story and there would be Fact A, which maybe was true, and then there would be Fact B, which was sort of partially true and partially fabricated, and there would be Fact C, which was more fabricated and almost not true, and there would be Fact D, which was a complete whopper and totally not true," Glass explained in the interview, referring to his New Republic stories.

But it was Fact D that sold copies -- and eventually landed Glass and the New Republic in serious trouble.

Glass had an insider's advantage, having fact checked at the magazine, and described the series of fake notes, voicemail boxes, business cards and even a Web site he invented to keep his lies afloat.

"This is the very beginning of a very, very long process of apologies," Glass said in the interview -- apologies which began with 60 Minutes on national television and coincide with the release of his book.

"What you're covering now is contrition as a career move," Wieseltier told 60 Minutes.

Certainly, Glass has been publicizing his book, including a "Dear Friends" mass e-mail in which he wrote, "I know it's really crass to ask you to buy the book, but I would love it if you would."

Calvert, however, will not be among the purchasing masses.

"Steve said it best. It was totally crass," he said. "Here's a guy who hasn't been in touch for years... and the first time I hear from him is in a form letter marketing proposal.

"One reason I hadn't tried to keep in touch more actively was I thought psychologically for him, he had to close that chapter in his life, and I understood that. But all along, here he was laying the groundwork to profit from it," Calvert added.

As for The Fabulist?

"That's the last book I'm going to buy," Calvert said.

"I don't know how many people are going to buy it," Lane said. "I'm just happy he's not trying to do journalism."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.