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                                                                                     PEOPLE & ARTS Tuesday 4 July 2017
            Wisconsin author says poignant memoir was fake: ‘I’m sorry’



            LA  CROSSE,  Wis.  (AP)  —  A  it  and  ambulance  records
            La  Crosse  author  has  ac-  show  no  crash  victim  was
            knowledged  he  falsified  transported to a hospital.
            most of the claims in his self-  Szente  told  the  newspa-
            published memoir.            per  he  was  involved  in  a
            Tristan  Szente’s  memoir,  motorcycle  crash  in  2014
            “Becoming  Me  ...  Again:  or 2015 but didn’t report it
            A  True  Story,”  includes  de-  and  sought  medical  help
            scriptions  of  how  a  2014  days later for a concussion,
            motorcycle  accident  left  burns and cuts.
            him in a coma with a dozen  He  declined  to  release  his
            broken  bones,  a  concus-   medical  records  but  ac-
            sion  and  second-degree  knowledged  that  the  hos-
            burns. He wrote that a doc-  pital  scene  he  described
            tor told him when he woke  never took place.
            from his coma that the au-   He also told the newspaper
            thorities were trying to find  he  was  never  diagnosed
            the person who hit him and  with a brain virus.
            two  police  officers  inter-  “I  wanted  to  write  some-
            viewed him.                  thing positive. I foolishly and
            He  also  described  how  he  wrongfully  let  it  get  out  of
            defeated a rare brain virus  hand,” he said. “I just kept
            that doctors said would kill  writing.  I’m  sorry.  I  should
            him. The La Crosse Tribune  never have done it.”
            reported Friday that police  Szente  self-published  his  April and chose to remove  ment was left with Rosedog  also be a reason for ending
            have no record of an acci-   book    through   Rosedog  the  book  from  print,  say-  Books  by  The  Associated  publication.
            dent  involving  Szente  and  Books and it was previously  ing  he  wanted  to  make  Press on Monday.              Oprah  Winfrey  threw  au-
            have no record of any con-   priced  between  $9  to  $10  substantial  changes  and  Szente  said  he  removed  thor James Frey out of her
            tact with him in 2014 or the  on  Amazon.com,  though  re-publish  later,  Rosedog  the  book  from  publication  book club in 2006 after he
            surrounding years.           it  was  not  immediately  Books  spokesman  Michael  because  it  was  becoming  acknowledged fabricating
            No  one  called  911  on  the  known how many he sold.    Knapp told the Tribune.      a distraction but later add-  parts of his memoir “A Mil-
            day  of  the  crash  to  report  He  broke  his  contract  in  A  message  seeking  com-  ed  the  falsifications  could  lion Little Pieces.”q
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