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