I, Libertine

I, Libertine

Cover of first edition (paperback)
Author	Frederick R. Ewing (Theodore Sturgeon)
Cover artist	Frank Kelly Freas
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Fake novel, Literary hoax
Publisher	Ballantine Books
Publication date	1956
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	151

I, Libertine was a literary hoax novel that began as a practical joke by late-night radio raconteur Jean Shepherd.

Shepherd was highly annoyed at the way that the bestseller lists were being compiled in the mid-1950s. These lists were determined not only from sales figures but also from the number of requests for new and upcoming books at bookstores. Shepherd urged his listeners to enter bookstores and ask for a book that did not exist. He fabricated the author (Frederick R. Ewing) of this imaginary novel, concocted a title (I, Libertine), and outlined a basic plot for his listeners to use on skeptical or confused bookstore clerks. Fans of the show eventually took it further, planting references to the book and author so widely that demand for the book led to it being listed on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Bookstores became interested in carrying Ewing's novel, which allegedly had been banned in Boston. When publisher Ian Ballantine, novelist Theodore Sturgeon, and Shepherd met for lunch, Ballantine hired Sturgeon to write a novel based on Shepherd's outline. Betty Ballantine completed the final chapter after Sturgeon fell exhausted asleep on the Ballantines' couch, having tried to meet the deadline in one marathon typing session. On September 13, 1956, Ballantine Books published I, Libertine simultaneously in hardcover and paperback editions with Shepherd seen looking as dissolute as possible, as Ewing, in the back cover author's photograph. The proceeds were donated to charity.

A few weeks before publication, The Wall Street Journal exposed the hoax, already an open secret.

Rife with jokes and wordplay, the novel can still be read as an entertaining historical romance. It tells the story of a social climber who styles himself Lance Courtenay, and most of the plot is closely based on the historical personage Elizabeth Chudleigh. An afterword states "The story of Elizabeth Chudleigh is substantially true ... ." which could easily be taken as part of the hoax, but the deception is double, for the seemingly fantastic story of Elizabeth Chudleigh actually is true.