Dec 13, 2011 (All Things Considered) — Impostors can be scheming, even villainous, but their stories tempt us with an attractive possibility -- the chance to wear a mask. Writer David Anthony suggests three tales about nefarious characters that let us indulge in our fascination with the art of manipulating outward appearances.
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Classic glasses and nose disguise. (iStockphoto.com)
Fakin' It: Three Books On Masquerading Identities
by David Anthony
Dec 13, 2011 (All Things Considered) — Impostors can be scheming, even villainous, but their stories tempt us with an attractive possibility -- the chance to wear a mask. Writer David Anthony suggests three tales about nefarious characters that let us indulge in our fascination with the art of manipulating outward appearances.Scratch just a little below the surface of American writing, and you'll find a substratum of stories that revolve around an impostor, a figure at once sinister and fascinating. This charlatan moves fluidly between personae, and in doing so, proves that identity is — especially in America — up for grabs. The impostor thus is everything we insist we are not. But he's also, I think, everything we wish we could be as the inheritors of our open, yet easily manipulated, American culture.
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