News Junkie

The recent rash of exaggerated autobiographies makes it hard to know when a good “true life story” is too good to be true. Is Jason Leopold the new James Frey? Probably not, for one big reason: Leopold makes no bones about his professional use of deceit. Right in the first chapter, the journalist-author talks about lying to sources to get information and lying to people around him to cover his cocaine addiction. He stole from one company and lied to subsequent employers about the felony conviction. Amid all this duplicity sprung an award-winning career distinguished by his coverage of the California energy crisis and the fall of Enron. News Junkie is a brisk read that covers a lot of interesting territory. Should we believe the words of a confessed liar? That’s a person-by-person decision. At least in Leopold’s case, there’s truth in advertising.