Gay Talese says credibility of new book is 'down the toilet'

Gaps spotted in The Voyeur’s Motel, a non-fiction account of a motel owner who spied on his guests, cast doubt on its veracity

The excerpts have been printed, the movie rights sold, but just days before publication the acclaimed journalist Gay Talese has disowned his new book, saying that its credibility is “down the toilet”.

The Voyeur’s Motel, due out on 12 July, is Talese’s account of how Colorado motel owner Gerald Foos spent four decades spying on unsuspecting guests from an attic “observation platform” that he built in the 1960s. But an investigation by the Washington Post has revealed that Foos was not the owner of the hotel for eight years in the 80s – a period during which Talese had claimed that Foos was sometimes joined by his wife in the attic.

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