The study of literary deception – which the US Library of Congress calls “literary forgeries and mystifications” in its catalog of subject headings – has plenty of attractions. We can treat the thief or the faker as an embodiment of the mythological trickster figure wreaking havoc on a staid establishment, or the crafty pícaro mischievously showing up his betters. Literary malefactors are adored for their chutzpah in embarrassing the self-important and revealing they are gullible fools and knaves.