There was a huge to-do about some nonfiction book by the “it” guy of the moment about 10 years ago. I can’t remember the title or his name but he was paid an insane advance (this in the days of a dying print medium). Anyway, in the editing process - or maybe even after literary critics got advanced copies to write reviews on, it came out that he totally made up a quote he attributed to Bob Dylan. Out of thin air. This was before Dylan won the Nobel Prize, but come on, he’s been famous for 60 years, and specifically for his writing, and the internet exists, so these kinds of checks take about 5 minutes to complete. Anyone with internet access could have confirmed that Dylan never said whatever the author quoted him as saying. So that hit the news and it’s just not a cute look. At all. If you’re going to be faking Bob Dylan quotes, how likely are people going to be to buy your book about brainpower or the art of thinking or whatever?

I’m pretty sure it was cancelled immediately. And I think the guy had to return the advance. I’m not sorry about it. You don’t lie while presenting yourself as an authority, but even worse, you don’t f*ck with Bob Dylan.