Absolutely fabulist?

It was a publishing sensation. Charles Pellegrino's book The Last Train to Hiroshima, about events leading to the atomic bomb attacks on Japan in 1945, was a bestseller with fantastic reviews and a movie option secured by Avatar director James Cameron. But now the publisher, Henry Holt, has removed all copies from sale and promised refunds to retailers. Why? Because the existence of key characters and the veracity of certain "facts" in the book have been placed in serious doubt. And some of Pelligrino's claims about himself, including his claim to have a PhD, don't hold up to scrutiny. New York Times book critic Dwight Garner wrote: "At first, it seemed that Charles Pellegrino was duped by a fantasist, but now it looks like he may have been one himself. It's another occasion where you wish publishers employed fact-checkers." There's more here.