I was excited to learn that there had been an attempted Dickinson forgery not too long ago. Not only did Mark Hofmann successfully (and profitably) forge Dickinson's writing; he wrote a whole new poem and passed it off as a previously unknown piece of her work.A "new" Dickinson poem is always a possibility. She left behind a disordered mass of writing that, fortunately for all of us, her sister ignored instructions to destroy and instead set about attempting to publish. This was no easy task for...

This is yet another book about Mark Hofmann, the geeky master forger who in the early 80s set about to bring down the Mormon Church. He was doing a passable job embarrassing the church hierarchy with undetectable forgeries, while also creating and selling letters and “lost works” by some other of America’s great historical figures. Hofmann’s work as a criminal was amazing, beyond reproach. No, his problem was that his debt got the best of him, and he desperately started planting pipe bombs, kill...

Emily Dickinson, Mormons, and forgery, oh my! You'll have to read this true story to find out how these three unlikely things intertwine. (Do I sound like Lavar Burton?) As someone with interests in both unusual religious movements and American literature, I found this book to be really intriguing and enjoyable. Not to mention the forgeries and murders. Read it. You'll see.

Yikes, this book was pretty awful, and it only gets two stars for having an interesting basic premise. It is shockingly poorly written and can't possibly have been edited, because it is probably 2-3 times as long as it should be, goes on weird tangents, and the writing is incredibly repetitive. The author really has this weird boner for the murderer, and kind of a ridiculous amount of vitriol for Mormons (save that for your anti-Mormon screed book, bro; this one's supposed to be about Emily Dick...

This book sucked. There, I said it. I can't understand how it passed an editor's eye. The author (though I haven't met him, so perhaps he's a peach) is an egomaniacal jerk. The story behind the writing is actually pretty interesting...forgery and Dickinson...but how could he go so wrong? Grr. My blood's boiling just thinking about it.

This was a well-written account of a forged "newly discovered" poem by Emily Dickinson. I enjoyed all the material in this book, and Worrall's painstaking research into how the fake documents were so masterfully made, but the structure was a bit off-putting. The book opens with the story of a curator at the Jones Library in Amherst securing the poem for some $20,000 at auction. This part is great--the excitement, how he raised the money, how the poem was verified (or not really), and its discove...

I just can’t wrap my head around the complete lack of editing. There were so many grammatical errors and factual errors that it made the book almost unreadable. The author couldn’t even get Gandalf’s name right. There are other books about Mark Hofmann. Pick any of them instead of this dreck.

I found this book fascinating. based on a true story of a literary forgerer.

Interesting story, now I want to read about Emily Dickinson and the mormons!!

Fascinating. Thus book would be worth the read if only for the chapter on handwriting.

This was an odd book. I read the disclaimer at the start saying it is a work of fiction, but it covers a historical person and events and certainly tries to act like research and nonfiction. So I felt confused the whole time. I can see from other reviewers that many of his statements are untrue. He does seem to make a lot of assumptions. So I just didn't know what to believe at all. I must say I have never read a book with so many typos and grammar errors. It was distracting and made it feel mor...

This is a book about a mormon forger and murderer, and since it is narrative nonfiction it meant I had to spend a lot of time with him. I thought it would be more about Dickinson.The book editor Susan Rabiner says that, "Narrative nonfiction is character-driven and highly psychological, focusing on what it is like for an individual or group to go through a particular experience that in some way, real or imagined, threatens the person's or people's sense of well-being." Reading this book made me

This book is fantastically interesting Hoffman could be the greatest forger of all time. There is some pretty dry reading in some chapters especially the beginning. I enjoyed this book. I am left with so many more questions about everything. The author is mostly neutral but does express some anti-LDS so if that would bother you this might not be the book for you. You should watch the Netflix documentary instead.

The Poet and the Murderer begins with the story of Daniel Lombardo, a curator from Amherst, Massachusetts, who with great fanfare had bought an original, newly discovered poem by Emily Dickson for his town library—-but he soon discovered that the poem was a skillful Hofmann forgery. This sale occurred twelve years after Hofmann had confessed (it’s mind-boggling that many of his forgeries are still in circulation, changing our understanding of people and events). The book, subtitled "A True Story...

This book reads like a series of vaguely connected articles in The New Yorker or Harper's rather than a chronicle of Hoffman's forgery of Dickinson. In the mid section, the chapters had very little connection to the narrative thread, instead focusing on forgery techniques, the science and psychology of handwriting, and Mormon history. Typically these had one paragraph at the end that reminded the reader they were supposed to be learning about Hoffman. Dickinson is only mentioned in the beginning...

This is another "atypical" book for me. Except for one period when it was all I read for a while, I never really got into "true crime" books but this one sucked me into a fascinating story. If Hofmann hadn't been so apparently caviler about taking life he'd be an even more fascinating character. (That sort of takes the bloom off the proverbial rose). His talent and intelligence (most of his forgeries were not detected until after he finally "messed up". Some are still out there being mistaken as...

A fascinating journey of the tale of Mark Hofmann, an infamous literary forger and murderer of the late twentieth century. Hofmann grew up raised in the Mormon faith and in his later years he set out to exploit what he believed to be the hypocrisy of his religion. A self-taught forger, Hofmann created fake and extremely controversial documents that were believed to be from the earliest days of the formation of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Having mastered his trade he moved on to forging lite...

This wasn't what I was expecting - it was better. It starts with the discovery of a forged Emily Dickinson poem, and then delves into the history of a master forger who set out to discredit the Mormon church and ends up turning to murder. It sounds like fiction, but it's all true. If you've enjoyed books about the Hitler Diaries, or Simon Winchester's The Professor & the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity & the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, or the books of Giles Milton, you'll love th...

A fascinating look into the world of literary forgery. Besides: I love Emily Dickinson, I went to college in Amherst, and I've toured her house. Some of the asides go pretty far afield and make me wish the author had stayed focused on the central story. A good recommendation, Lisa. Thank you!

This book was a quick read and fascinating. You hear of forgeries but I had no idea what has been done and how the experts can be fooled. The book is based on a forgery of an Emily Dickinsen poem but also discusses the history of the Mormon church and the documents forged and sold to the leaders.

Interesting look into the world of historical document forgery

True was good, murder was good . . . but I don't care for poetry, so that was not good. The writing was too florid, too descriptive. ugh. Lost interest.

Although I cannot imagine doing it myself, I have always seen forgers as the artists of crime. This is not to excuse their deeds or the suffering they cause, but to me that are vastly more interesting than some gang banger on the street.I have read "A Gathering of Saints: A True Story of Money, Murder, and Deceit" by Robert Lindsey years ago. In many ways "The Poet and the Murderer" by Simon Worrall is the other half of that book, although each book can stand alone. "A Gathering of Saints" cover...

Simon Worrall retells the remarkable story of master forger and sociopath Mark Hofmann. A facile popular treatment--there is no index--the book also includes loosely connected chapters on Emily Dickinson, the history of forgery, and the questionable ethics of major auction houses.Nevertheless, Worrall needs better editing. Not only does he repeat himself, he also makes a number of small errors about Mormon history and practice. If Worrall believes, as I do, that Joseph Smith was a fraud and a se...

Pretty good read. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars, if I could. The author takes us through the 'art' of literary forgery back to the time of ancient Egypt. More recently, and more notoriously, he mentions the forged 'diaries' of Hitler and Jack the Ripper.The book is really about Mark Hofmann, a master forger and murderer. He managed to forge documents from no less than 130 historical figures (including Emily Dickinson); selling them for immense amounts over a period of years.Hofmann is really a slimy,

I have to say the book was interesting because I had heard of Hoffman because of his Mormon forgeries (I can't help admiring Hoffman for forging Mormon documents which he knew the Mormon Church would want to suppress! It sure helps the forger if the purchaser helps him along by not allowing others to see the forged document) and so he forged a poem by Emily Dickinson - not only a manuscript but a new poem and that's the point of this whole book - not the Mormon angle, that had already been cover...

Really can’t say I liked this book. The author obviously thinks Mormons are cults and that their religion is nonsense... a personal opinion that is purported through out the entire book. If comparing their religious leaders as communists and their founding doctrine as mythological is any sense of how the author feels it is demeaning and condemning in this sense... it made me believe that the reason the author decided on this subject because he wished that some of Hofmann forgeries were true abou...

Overwritten in the extreme, this would have worked much better as an article. The author uses prose like writing to include depth and backstory to every person tangentially related to the subject at hand. So much so that the actual story is lost. I found it a real struggle focus on what I was being told, i'll probably do my own research online because its a very intriguing tale, just told with too much flourish here. Wouldn't reccomend.

I have already used the trivia I learned from this book in 2 conversations! fairly easy read, some parts stretched out too much without much to say. I learned more about the Book of Mormon and Emily Dickinson, and how collecting historical documents is the trend among the nouveau riche. Think of the good that could be d one with that money.

this is not a text explicitly about the forged Emily Dickinson poem and Mark Hoffman’s murders, but a large focus on his entire criminal career, especially his duping of the church of LDS; not what I expected going in but I still loved it because of my interest in religious groups as well how well researched it is.