There's Something About Carmen...

There are few things as amusing as a well-played hoax, especially in the world of books and authors, a world where people tend to take themselves rather seriously.  That makes them attractive balloons to pop!

The first one I recall came from the fertile mind of radio talk hero (you know him from The Christmas Story movie) Jean Shepherd. His gag was asking his audience to call and visit bookstores asking for a new novel called "I, Libertine." The only problem was, the book did not exist. But the hoax worked so well that the demand caused someone to write a book by that name!

Then, in 1969, came "Naked Came The Stranger," a book written by a newspaper columnist and a cadre of his friends to parody the rise of trashy novels by Jacqueline Susann and her cadre of poor writers. It was published as the work of one person, and people broke their necks to get a copy (see: "Fifty Shades of Grey"). For whatever reason, someone made a movie out of this turgid story.

The 2021 version of literary tomfoolery is happening in Spain, where the popular author Carmen Mola (who is said to be one of those reclusive geniuses who is not seen in publicly and does not speak to the press) turns out to be not actually a person, but, rather, a pseudonym employed by three writers who combine to produce the work of "Mola": Jorge Diaz, Agustin Martinez and Antonio Mercero.

Ms. "Mola" won the 70th Planeta Novel Prize a couple of weeks ago in Barcelona.

Their work paid off to the tune of 1 million Euros ($1.2 million American) for the novel called "The Beast". "Mola" is best known for the Inspector Elena Blanco series. 

I don't seem to know the first thing about Spanish mystery novels, but I read that "Mola" is known as the "Spanish Elena Ferrante," Ferrante being a popular Italian author behind whose books include "My Brilliant Friend" and other novels.  Penguin Random House calls "Mola" "crime literature's boldest and most enigmatic author."

And the best mystery of all: she does not exist, never did. The trio of writers waited until now to tell the tale.

"Carmen Mola is not, like all the lies we've been telling, a university professor," Díaz told The Financial Times. "We are three friends [they are TV screenwriters in Spain] who one day four years ago decided to combine our talent to tell a story."

I thought it best to check. Tedious, prolix American novelist John Grisham is, in fact, tedious, prolix American novelist John Grisham for real. No one else would ever take credit for his awful books.