Conhecimento Comum

Nome padrão: Worrall, Simon
Data de nascimento: 1951
Sexo: male
Nacionalidade: UK
Locais de residência: Wellington, England, UK
Ocupação: journalist
biographer
non-fiction author
Pequena biografia: Simon Worrall was born in Wellington, England and spent his childhood in Eritrea, Paris and Singapore. Since 1984, he has been a full-time, freelance journalist and book author. He has written investigative features; travel articles; celebrity profiles and reportages for publications all over the world, including National Geographic, GQ, The London Times, The Guardian, The Paris Review, The New Yorker, Harper’s, Conde Nast Traveler, The Sidney Morning Herald, Playboy, The Smithsonian and Maxim. He has also made frequent appearances on Radio & TV, including the BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent; NPR and PBS. He speaks six languages and has lived in or visited more than 70 countries. Among many adventures, he has dug clams with the Inuit on Baffin Island, ridden with gauchos in Patagonia, followed the trail of a stolen Rembrandt with an undercover FBI agent, explored a Tang Dynasty shipwreck off the coast of Sumatra and got drunk with Marianne Faithful. On the way, Simon has been fortunate to work with world-class photographers like Pulitzer Prize-winner, Vince Musi; and Magnum members Ian Berry, Paul Fusco and Inge Von Morath. Among celebrities Simon has profiled are Hilary Clinton, Arthur Miller, Wynona Ryder, Monica Seles and Leonard Cohen. He was the last writer to interview Katharine Hepburn, at her home on Turtle Bay, New York. Simon’s first book, The Poet and the Murderer ( Dutton/4th Estate), a work of narrative non-fiction about master forger and double-murderer, Mark Hofmann, was published to critical acclaim in 2002. It inspired a BBC documentary, The Man Who Forged America, and is currently being turned into a screenplay. Current projects include a non-fiction love story set in World War Two and an art crime thriller he is writing with the former head of the FBI’s Art Crime Unit, Bob Wittman. Simon’s latest investigative feature, Cybergate, about the theft of a US Presidential election by computer fraud, will be published in December, 2009. He currently divides his time between his native England and the United States. He is a member of The Frontline Club, London; and an active supporter of several charities, including Amnesty International and The World Land Trust. His passions include tennis; books; and wild places.

Membros

Resenhas

The Poet and the Murderer de Simon Worrall

certain parts were fascinating. Enjoyed the details of how the forger worked and the parts that dealt with Dickinson's history and the history of forgery and Mormonism. the parts about the psychology of the forger were less appealing, I felt a few times like the author was repeating things the manipulative cold blooded killer had shared as truths, his difficulty with his parents and with the church, it's really all their fault that this guy was willing to let a woman or child he had no interaction with be shredded by a pipe bomb. That was a little off putting, but in general a really interesting and enjoyable read… (mais)

Marcado

cspiwak | outras 15 resenhas | Mar 6, 2024 |

The Poet and the Murderer de Simon Worrall

An interesting tale of the dogged pursuit to uncover what might be a forgery. It bashes a few sacred cows such as Sotheby's and the Mormon Church, exposing both duplicity and incompetency. The research necessary to uncover the truth about an Emily Dickinson poem uncovers many other falsehoods, and, the book is informative about handwriting analysis and the art and the science of reproducing pages that were created in the past. What would seem to be a dry and bland subject becomes an intriguing account of the hunt to unearth the truth.… (mais)

Marcado

Jawin | outras 15 resenhas | Feb 27, 2024 |

The Poet and the Murderer: a True Story of Literary… de Simon Worrall

Not quite as dramatic as the main title would suggest. The murderer and forger was Mark Hofmann, known primarily for his extensive forging of documents purporting to be from the early period of the Church of Latter Day Saints. He also forged quite a number of documents attributed to important American historical and literary figures. This book is about one of those - an alleged manuscript of a poem by, and in the hand of, Emily Dickinson.

Marcado

lilithcat | outras 15 resenhas | Oct 29, 2023 |

The Poet and the Murderer: A True Story of Literary… de Simon Worrall

An interesting, narrative accounts of the crimes of Mark Hoffman, forger and bomber, through the lens of an Emily Dickinson poem he faked. Thus it serves as a breezy, but thorough introduction to Hoffman and his crimes as well as Emily Dickinson and her poetry. It is a good book for many readers and is accessible for a wide audience. Two problems, though. First, less important, there is no bibliographic matter. No footnotes, no citations, no bibliography. And no index. But this is meant to be for a wide readership, not a scholarly tome. But the second problem is glaring, there are only two images. There is only a picture of the forged Dickinson poem at the end and one legitimate Dickinson poem at the end. If any book begged to have dozens of images, this is it. Pictures of Dickinson, Hoffman, the poems, Lombardo, Hoffman's various forgeries, the bomb damage, the forensic evidence of Hoffman's forgery, etc. But, no, two crummy pictures. That knocks this down a star. You must turn to Salamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders and other books for better images of Hoffman and his work. Not a replacement for books on Hoffman's crimes or Dickinson's life, but a nice appetizer.

Fun fact, Walter McCrone, who is praised for "proving" the Shroud of Turin was painted, failed to recognize a Hoffman forgery.… (mais)

Marcado

tuckerresearch | outras 15 resenhas | May 21, 2020 |

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