Genuine Fakes: How Phony Things Teach Us About Real Stuff (Bloomsbury Sigma) - Hardcover

Pyne, Lydia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 147296182X ISBN 13: 9781472961822

Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma, 2019

Synopsis

Is the distinction between “real” and “fake” as clear-cut as we think?

Does an authentic Andy Warhol painting need to be painted by Andy Warhol? Should we be outraged that some of those famous scenes in Blue Planet were filmed in a lab? Who are the scientists putting ever-more improbable flavors in our Jelly Belly beans? Welcome to the world of “genuine fakes”--the curious objects that fall in between things that are real and things that are not. Unsurprisingly, the world is full of genuine fakes that defy simple categorization. Whether or not we think that those things are authentic is a matter of perspective.

In Genuine Fakes, historian Lydia Pyne explores how the authenticity of eight genuine fakes depends on their unique combinations of history, science and culture. The stories of art forgeries, fake fossils, nature documentaries, synthetic flavors, museum exhibits, Maya codices and Paleolithic replicas shows that genuine fakes are complicated and change over time. Drawing from historical archives, interviews, museum exhibits, science fiction as well as her own research, Pyne brings each genuine fake to life through unexpected and often outrageous stories.

Can people move past assuming that a diamond grown in a lab is a fake? What happens when a forged painting or manuscript becomes more valuable than its original? Genuine Fakes will make readers think about all the unreal things that they encounter in their daily lives and why they invoke the reactions--surprise, wonder, understanding or annoyance--that they do.

About this title

About the Author

Lydia Pyne is a writer and historian, interested in the history of science and material culture. She has degrees in history and anthropology and a PhD in history and philosophy of science from Arizona State University, and is currently a visiting researcher at the Institute for Historical Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her field and archival work has ranged from South Africa, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan and Iran to the American Southwest.

Lydia's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, History Today, Time, The Scientist, Lady Science and Electric Literature as well as The Public Domain Review, and her previous book was Seven Skeletons, the story of human origins.

Review

“Lively, thought-provoking, and consistently surprising, this book forces us to think deeper about what authenticity and fakery really mean, at a time when such matters could hardly matter more. Lydia Pyne is the real deal.” ―Ed Yong, science journalist and author of New York Times bestseller I Contain Multitudes

“Full of diverting tales.” ―Mail on Sunday

“In turns thought-provoking and entertaining, Genuine Fakes is a vital book in a world of fake news and the search for authenticity. It is an eloquent and surprising exploration of the objects around us, which compels us to ask where we draw the line between real and fake. Sometimes authenticity is no more important than a good story.” ―Kate Wiles, Senior Editor, History Today

“Genuine Fakes is full of fascinating stories about what Pyne shows is the thin and permeable line between real and fake in many more areas than I thought possible to combine so interestingly and gracefully. The book is packed with the human foibles that leave us vulnerable to the fake when our dreams are too big to be contained in the real.” ―Erin Thompson, Professor of Art Crime, City University of New York

“In this fascinating, interdisciplinary study, Lydia Pyne challenges us to reflect on the social factors that inspire the creation of replicas, simulations, and forgeries. Ambitious in scope and engagingly written, Genuine Fakes is an authentically wonderful read.” ―Benjamin Gross, Vice President for Research and Scholarship, Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology

“I ended up learning a lot from the tidbits and explanations that accompanied the stories of fakes that were once passed off as real...The examples used also made me pause and think a lot about how fake can become real and why in some cases (diamonds and paleolithic cave paintings) this is beneficial and a more ethical route to travel down... overall this was an interesting plunge into what makes or changes our perceptions of what is real.” ―Dear Author

“Author Pyne provides sufficient context to engage readers, explaining how curators and scientists have been duped in the past, and what they have learned as a result. This slightly off-beat account should be of great interest to collectors, amateur archaeologists, historians, and art connoisseurs.” ―Booklist Online

“An intriguing exploration of 'frauds, forgeries, and fakes'...Genuine history smartly explored. ” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Historian Pyne (Seven Skeletons) offers a thoughtful examination of what it is to be fake, using case studies ranging from instances of outright deception to clearly labeled recreations, with plenty of gray area in between...Pyne's well-written survey illuminates the ramifications of various types of fakery, even while showing how murky the concept of what is fake can get.” ―Publishers Weekly

"Pyne provides a convincing argument for why in the case studies presented we accept these 'genuine fakes' are real in their own right and how our times and culture influence what we say and will accept as real. I would recommend this book to people who like interesting stories from history, art and the natural sciences..." - Ghost Reader (BookTube)

"Nonfiction that is both information-dense AND fun to read is rare; Lydia Pyne has given us precisely that with Genuine Fakes. A book like this could easily become bone-dry, a slog of a read. But Pyne maintains an airiness throughout, treating the material with seriousness but never severity. Everything unfolds with a very light touch. The result is a book that is very difficult to put down.

The world is more than just real and not-real. There’s room for things that are real and inauthentic, just as there’s room for things that are authentic yet not real. Getting drawn into learning about those things is the real joy central to Genuine Fakes–-a joy that you really ought to experience for yourself." - The Maine Edge

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 147296182X
• ISBN 13: 9781472961822
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304