Jennifer Raison

I came across this book after I had seen the movie and was delighted to find a comprehensive account of the truth behind the legend. Unfortunately, the lack of citation and frequent embellishment of the "diary" makes the reader only vaguely aware of an element of truth. The diary portions are very readable and enjoyable. However, without knowing which parts are real and which parts are embellishments, any true historical value is lost. In fact, the authors do not even give a list of sources used for any further research. The exact copies of a few newspaper articles are historically helpful, but these are the only elements that can point to any "real" story of Caraboo. The title "The Real Story of the Grand Hoax", is truly odd since the authors do not separate the "real" portions from their "probable" portions, which actually perpetuates Caraboo's original hoax.… (meer)