Playing with words.

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery."

I'm inclined to believe that Louise Brooks wouldn't necessarily agree, particularly where the work of Lee Israel is concerned. Israel has become the focus of my attention due to a recent eBay listing, featuring a letter that is purported to be of Brooks' authorship; having skimmed the text and compared the signature to other samples of Louise's handwriting, the letter sadly does not ring true to me. Whether or not it is in fact a true Brooks letter, I cannot say for certain (I would still believe that it is not); however, this issue brought Lee Israel back to my attention. Israel, a one-time biographer who, having fallen upon hard times, took to writing forged letters from the likes of Noel Coward, Lillian Hellman, and Dorothy Parker, made Brooks one of her earliest targets. She often sourced biographical material for her forgeries (including personal letters), though it seems that the Brooks letters were mostly comprised of Louise's own words, which Israel shuffled around and embellished ever so slightly. As she became more self-assured in her work, she took greater creative liberties, which ultimately caused her undoing. Israel decided to come clean with a memoir, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which was published in 2008. I have yet to read the book myself, but I'll make it a point to do so, as I'd like to wrap my head around this woman and her work; though her intentions were dubious, there is little doubt that she is quite skilled with the English language. One last item of note: as the letters she authored were "from the realm of the dead", the deceased were thereby incapable of defending themselves or setting things right. The notion of "cheating the dead" would make me feel glum, but I take comfort as I imagine that somewhere, anywhere and everywhere, "St. Louise is listening."