Gay Talese won't promote new book amid credibility questions


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Veteran journalist and author Gay Talese says he will not promote his forthcoming book, "The Voyeur's Motel," after questions were raised about the credibility of its main source.

Talese told The Washington Post (http://wapo.st/29frXAH ) he should not have believed Gerald Foos, the subject of the book who allegedly spied on guests at his Colorado motel from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Property records show Foos sold the motel in 1980 and reacquired it in 1988. That gap raised doubt about what Foos told Talese.

"I'm not going to promote this book," Talese told the newspaper. "How dare I promote it when its credibility is down the toilet?"

The book is based in part on journals kept by Foos that describe intimate encounters among his guests, who were unaware he was watching from a walkway above the rooms.

Talese says in the book that he found other discrepancies in Foos' journals. Some entries are dated 1966, but Foos didn't buy the Manor House Motel until 1969. But Talese said he wasn't aware of the sale of the motel until a reporter asked him about it Wednesday.

Foos told the newspaper he's telling the truth but said he never told Talese about the property transactions.

"I can swear to this, and I can say this unequivocally and without recourse, that I have never purposely told a lie," he said.

Talese, however, called Foos "certifiably unreliable."

The author did not immediately returns messages from The Associated Press on Thursday. Deb Seager, a spokeswoman for Grove Atlantic, said Thursday night that the publisher was looking into the discrepancies.

The book is slated to be released July 12. It was excerpted by New Yorker magazine in April.

The story led Steven Spielberg to buy the movie rights to the book. Sam Mendes has been tapped to direct the film. DreamWorks and a representative for filmmaker Sam Mendes also did not immediately respond to messages left by The AP.

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Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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