Daily Show / Colbert Report / Nightly Show / The Opposition discussion

I know I'm usually late to the party on hearing about things, but I just read that Jonah Lehrer's Imagine: How Creativity Works is being recalled by the publisher because Lehrer intentionally misquoted Bob Dylan or took quotes out of context.

That's kind of crazy. I mean, when I've heard interviews with him, he sounds like a really intelligent guy and the topic of the book sounds interesting. Now, those of us who haven't read the book yet might not get a chance to read it since bookstores AND libraries are pulling it from their shelves.

So, I'm sure that the publisher feels screwed because Lehrer lied about *part* of his book, but how integral are the Dylan quotes to the meat of the book? I mean, can you still read the book and say, "Okay, I just won't pay attention to the Dylan stuff, but everything else is profound?" Or is it because, as one review said, “almost everything in the [Dylan] chapter — from the minor details to the larger argument — is inaccurate, misleading, or simplistic”? Has anyone here read the book? (Or is it the bigger picture of "We can't sell lies and say they're truths?")

A lot of it Tiffany, is the cover up is always worse than the act itself. Once someone started sensing something off, Lehrer agreed to be interviewed by that person, but kept up the lie - even when confronted by the fact that Dylan's assistant denied the veracity of the statements.

Howard Kurtz covered this on his Sunday Show Reliable Sources. If you go to Kurtz's twitter feed, or even CNN you can probably find the interview of the whistle blower. If not, drop me a line, I'll find it for you.

Linda wrote: "A lot of it Tiffany, is the cover up is always worse than the act itself."

That's kind of what I was thinking. Have you read the book, though? Is it possible to read the book, knowing that the Dylan portions may not be 100% correct, but still gain something insightful from the rest of what Lehrer says? In other words, knowing that the *Dylan* portions aren't completely truthful, is the book still worth reading?

All I know is that it received critically positive reviews prior to the scandal. It will be hard to find now since it's been pulled from sale. Perhaps a library would have it.

My regional library has already announced that they're pulling it as soon as everyone who had already requested it gets to read it and return it.

Anyone else? Read it and have an opinion on whether it's still worth reading, despite the claims about Bob Dylan?

The Dylan lies are just the tip of the iceberg. He is a sloppy lazy pseudo-journalist who managed to come up with interesting non-fiction because he just made stuff up. Most of the book is about science and he gets the science wrong too. See my review for more details.

Fictiony non-fiction is dangerous and the publishers deserve a lot of credit for removing the book.

Thanks for the feedback, Andy.

Andy wrote: "See my review for more details."

Thanks for the review link, Andy.