Ghosts (2) – Andrew O’Hagan and Julian Assange

 

           

Gert was amused last year when the memoir of a – well, not famously eloquent – footballer came out with the title In my own words and the byline with (name of ghostwriter). She was reminded of the French film Mensonges et Trahisons in which a ghostwriter is hired to write the autobiography of a famous soccer star.

Ghosts (1) – Jennie Erdal and Naim Attallah

Recently we read an excellent long essay by Andrew O’Hagan in The London Review of Books (Vol 36 no. 5) about his attempt to work with Julian Assange on his autobiography. This brought to mind another ghost who in 2004 after being hidden for almost 20 years made a very public revelation of her ghosting in a book of the same name.