一天，克里夫向出版社編輯宣布了一件大事：隱居十年的大富豪、好萊塢大亨、飛行家霍華德·休斯先生授權讓其寫一本傳記。霍華德·休斯這個大亨很古怪，他特別害怕跟人接觸，他有著無上的權利與巨額的財產，也有著無數的怪僻，在許多人心中霍華德·休斯就是個神秘的人。克里夫這個名不見經傳的小作家竟然能親自采訪到這個不愿意接觸人的富翁，并被授權寫傳記，這消息震驚了全美國。

出版社與傳媒記者們紛紛趕來找克里夫提供消息，這個小作家一下子就成為全美最受關注的人物。克里夫講了一些關于霍華德的事情，同時提供了一些細節讓所有媒體記者相信克里夫確實是霍華德的代言人。一下子，小作家名利雙收，備受追捧。

"The Hoax" is based on a true story – how, in 1971, a struggling writer called Clifford Irving persuaded a leading American publishing house that he had obtained a series of unprecedented interviews with the ultra-reclusive,
immensely powerful, superstar billionaire Howard Hughes and that he was sitting on the book of the century – Howard Hughes's memoirs. There was a huge amount of interest in the book because Howard Hughes was also a
Hollywood producer, aviator, industrialist and playboy and he had been a recluse for 15 years. A million-dollar deal was struck and the book printing began. But then, Howard Hughes broke his silence to reveal that he'd never
even heard of Clifford Irving, and that the book was not genuine – it was "a fake"!

Clifford Irving is played by the actor Richard Gere, who has a star track record for playing attractive but extremely dishonest characters.

unprecedented:前所未有的,無先例的,空前的
The rate of growth was unprecedented.
這個成長率是前所未有的。

reclusive:隱居的;遁世的

recluse:隱居者

真的;非偽造的;名副其實的

track record:記錄
來源:可可英語 http://www.ccdyzl.cn/Article/200907/79364.shtml