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File photo of Bob Dylan

New Yorker journalist resigns after fabricating Bob Dylan quotes

Journalist and author Jonah Lehrer has had his latest book pulled from shelves over quotes that ‘didn’t exist’.

A STAFF WRITER for The New Yorker magazine has resigned and his best-selling book has been halted after he admitted to inventing quotes by Bob Dylan.

Jonah Lehrer has released a statement through his publisher, saying that some Dylan quotes appearing in Imagine: How Creativity Works did “not exist.”

Others were “unintentional misquotations, or represented improper combinations of previously existing quotes”.

Tablet Magazine uncovered Lehrer’s actions. In an in-depth story released yesterday, writer Michael Moynihan of Tablet examined the Dylan quotes from Imagine: How Creativity Works.

Moynihan said that some of the quotes in the book “confounded” him and said that when questioned Lehrer:

… stonewalled, misled and eventually outright lied to me.

Lehrer eventually confessed to never having met Bob Dylan’s manager Jeff Rosen. He had previously said that it was Rosed who provided him with unreleased interview footage of the singer, and that this was where the quotes on creativity had come from.

In a statement released yesterday Lehrer said:

I told Mr. Moynihan that [the quotes in question] were from archival interview footage provided to me by Dylan’s representatives. This was a lie spoken in a moment of panic. When Mr. Moynihan followed up, I continued to lie, and say things I should not have said.
The lies are over now. I understand the gravity of my position. I want to apologize to everyone I have let down, especially my editors and readers.

Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said in a statement that Lehrer had committed a “serious misuse.”

Listings for the e-book edition of Imagine will be removed and shipments of the physical book have been stopped.

Imagine, published in March, has sold more than 200,000 copies, according to Houghton Mifflin. It has spent 16 weeks on The New York Times’ hardcover nonfiction bestseller list and yesterday had ranked No. 105 on Amazon.com.

Lehrer had already gotten himself into hot water last month after it emerged that he had recycled some work that he had written for previous publications.

New Yorker editor David Remnick has said that he has accepted Lehrer’s resignation, and that it was a terrifically sad situation, but, in the end, what is most important is the integrity of what we publish and what we stand for”.

Among Lehrer’s inventions was a quote that first appeared in the famous documentary from the mid-1960s, “Don’t Look Back,” in which Dylan tells a reporter about his songs that “I just write them. There’s no great message”.

In Imagine, Lehrer adds a third sentence — “Stop asking me to explain” — that does not appear in the film.

According to Tablet, Lehrer also invented quotes on how Dylan wrote Like a Rolling Stone and, when confronted about them, alleged that he had been granted access to an uncut version of No Direction Home, a Dylan documentary made by Martin Scorsese. Lehrer now says he never saw such footage.

Plagiarism and fabrication

Last year a columnist for the Irish Examiner was investigated following allegations of plagiarism, while Independent columnist Johann Hari was suspended from the paper after his work was questioned.

In 2003 a New York Times reporter Jayson Blair was found to have fabricated stories and had lifted information from other publications without attribution. The Guardian reported at the time that all 673 of Blair’s stories were retrospectively fact-checked by the paper.

Over the past decade, numerous books have been pulled, whether because of lifting material from other sources (Q.R. Markham’s Assassin of Secrets) or fabricating events (James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces).

Read Michael C. Moynihan’s Tablet story in full>

Johann Hari suspended from the Independent>

- Additional reporting by the Associated Press

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10 Comments
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    Mute Sean Ryan
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 8:37 AM

    Fair play. She genuinely seems to be a caring person. Love her work for literacy too.

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    Mute Connoroconner
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:17 AM

    Don’t laugh now, but Dolly Parton is a true hero of our times. She is a remarkable woman at every level and has done huge amounts of charity work, invested millions in the impoverished local community she came from, has been influential in women’s rights and gsy rights and has written at least 2 all time classic songs.

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    Mute Aisling
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 10:23 AM

    @Connoroconner: it’s true! If you dig below the surface you quickly realise how remarkable she is.

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    Mute Connoroconner
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 12:18 PM

    @Aisling: there was a Sky tv show ‘Brian Johnstons Life on the Road’ which featured an extended interview with her. Brian, front man for AC/DC, and i think he was in love by the end of the show. It captures what a warm, beautiful person she is and shows what a great sense of humour she has too. Worth a watch if you can track it down.

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    Mute Barry Vickers
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 4:10 PM

    @Connoroconner: I’m only going to disagree with you about the last part. Its way more than 2 all time classics. Huge Dolly fan here.

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    Mute Connoroconner
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:43 PM

    @Barry Vickers: well i also thinks it’s more, but for the general non country music fan, there are 2 they would know. That’s why I said at least 2!

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    Mute MollyMsalone
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 8:36 AM

    Any sign of Bonio or Bob?

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    Mute chinaski
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 8:40 AM

    @MollyMsalone: Bono actually added to people’s misery by signing a song for them.

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    Mute Tordel Back
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 8:48 AM

    @MollyMsalone: Give Bob a break. He’s made mistakes, but he’s a righteous dude.

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    Mute Damien
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:02 AM

    @Tordel Back: Hes a dose.

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    Mute Joe Toner
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:26 AM

    @MollyMsalone: leave him out of this…. We are suffering enough without listening to him!

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    Mute Conall
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 10:44 AM

    @Damien: To be fair, he’s both a righteous dude and a dose simultaneously. First bit’s more important.

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    Mute Gerry Mc Carthy
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 11:25 AM

    @Tordel Back: “self righteous “ dude you mean . Dolly Parton can sing intelligible songs and donate substantial money to help people . Bono/Geldoff do neither, but in their imagination think they were important to Ireland’s “ progress “ , God help us !

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    Mute School4work
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 10:00 PM

    @MollyMsalone:

    Bonzo and Boob more like.

    I heard that Paddy Power is donating 1 Billion from the gambling profits:

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    Mute Tordel Back
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 8:46 AM

    The world has never deserved Dolly Parton. A truly decent person.

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    Mute Jake Kelly
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 8:31 AM

    Working 9 to 5 for a way to make a vaccine

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    Mute Karllye kripton
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:15 AM

    Thank you dolly, can u imagine if every millionaire and billionaires donated a mill each all over the world

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    Mute New Remedy Europe
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:42 AM

    Closer to home a huge thank you to a Conor MCGregor for his 1m donation to aid Irish hospitals in this crisis.

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    Mute Aaron Luke
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 10:12 AM

    @New Remedy Europe: spot on . A lot of people knock connor . But he is a top man . Didn’t he give some kid 10 k who needed an operation recently ?

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    Mute Tricia G
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:26 AM

    The world doesn’t deserve Dolly Parton!

    Between her literacy program, giving financial assistance to those impacted by the Tennessee fires and now this (as well the other work through her foundation) the woman is a bonafide saint!

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    Mute Declan Cosgrave
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:42 AM

    Wheres Bono , Geldof , JP McManus , Magnier , D.O.B ?????
    Holed up in their caves counting their money

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    Mute Jono
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 10:01 AM

    @Declan Cosgrave: are they doctors ?? Money is not an issue for governments so unless they are doctors we dont need anything from them

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    Mute Will
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 10:02 AM

    @Declan Cosgrave: McManus and Magnier have donated something like €80 million to charity in the last two years.

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    Mute Will
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 10:04 AM

    @Jono: “Money is not an issue for governments”

    With a national debt of well over €200 billion, money is most certainly an issue for our government and for all of us who ultimately must pay such a colossal bill.

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    Mute Connoroconner
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 12:20 PM

    @Will: yeah if you class horse racing and GAA as charities. I’d prefer if they’d pay their taxes here.

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    Mute Will
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 1:21 PM

    @Connoroconner: McManus has a charitable fund he set up years ago to help with all sorts of good causes. There’s a website that goes into the details of it.
    The money is used for healthcare, education, sport etc. Lots of small charities in McManus’s part of the country depend on it.
    Fair enough, be nice if he paid his taxes here but ask yourself, if you, as a billionaire, could half your tax bill by moving residence would you still stand on principle?

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    Mute Connoroconner
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 2:06 PM

    @Will: yes I like to think I’d consider it the patriotic thing to do. How many billions does one person need? Michael O Leary and Bono, despite the abuse he gets, continue to pay their personal income taxes here when they could easily choose not to.

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    Mute School4work
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 10:03 PM

    @Declan Cosgrave:

    And Paddy Power too.

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    Mute
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:20 AM

    It’s good to see reports of millionaires ACTUALLY donating. Too often I see the journal blowing up the headline for a “pledge” or a “promise” or a “plan” than never happens. Like the Notre Dam fire, loads came out to pledge money, few really coughed up.

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    Mute Jono
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:54 AM

    Not everyone wants to publicly announce their donations..food for thought

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    Mute Paul O Connor
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:21 AM

    Good on her for the gesture but realistically money won’t solve this. Medics already have unlimited access to funds. Unfortunately it’s gonna take a lot of time.

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    Mute Paul Atreides
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 1:57 PM

    What more good things can we say about Dolly Parton.

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    Mute John Tierney
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 9:55 AM

    Bill Gates has enough millions. He doesn’t need Dolly’s.

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    Mute Brendan Deegan
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 12:05 PM

    BOB AND BONO are organising a fund raiser.

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    Mute BOH®
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 3:29 PM

    And people say she’s just a big pair of t-ts.

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    Mute Vlad Eire
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 12:33 PM

    Working 9 to 5 (from home)

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    Mute colin weafer
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 3:40 PM

    she has Hugh assets

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    Mute BM
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 7:04 PM

    And people say shes just a big pair of tits

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    Mute roberto Mankini
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    Apr 2nd 2020, 10:51 PM

    Are her big pair of tits to named bob and bono?

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