Naked Came the Stranger

This article is about the 1969 novel. For the 1975 film by Radley Metzger, see Naked Came the Stranger (film).

First edition (publ. Lyle Stewart)

Naked Came the Stranger is a 1969 novel written as a literary hoax poking fun at the American literary culture of its time. Though credited to "Penelope Ashe", it was in fact written by a group of twenty-four journalists led by Newsday columnist Mike McGrady.[1]

McGrady's intention was to write a book that was both deliberately terrible and contained a lot of descriptions of sex, to illustrate the point that popular American literary culture had become mindlessly vulgar. The book fulfilled the authors' expectations and became a bestseller in 1969; they revealed the hoax later that year, further spurring the book's popularity.[2]

  1. ^ Staff (April 5, 2017). "'Naked Came the Stranger' (1975): The Hoax, The Film". The Rialto Report. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  2. ^ Fox, Margalit (May 15, 2012). "Mike McGrady, Known for a Literary Hoax, Dies at 78". New York Times. p. B12. Retrieved September 18, 2012.