Jonah Lehrer Publisher Pulls Bestseller ‘Imagine’

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will halt all shipments of physical copies and take down e-book sales of "Imagine: How Creativity Works"

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said it will pull Jonah Lehrer's bestseller "Imagine: How Creativity Works" from the market after the disgraced former New Yorker writer admitted Monday that he had fabricated quotes in the book.

Taryn Roeder, a spokeswoman for the publisher, said the company was considering its next move with the book, which sold 200,000 copies since March.

"In light of the serious misuse of quotations admitted above, we are exploring all options available to us," the publishing house said in a statement. "We are taking the e-book of 'Imagine' off-sale, and halting shipment of physical copies."

Also read: 'Imagine' Author Jonah Lehrer Resigns New Yorker, Admits Lying

Another spokeswoman, Lori Glazer, told TheWrap the e-book would be removed from all sites by the end of the day.

Lehrer resigned from the New Yorker Monday morning after a report in Tablet Magazine revealed that he fabricated Bob Dylan quotes in "Imagine" and lied to the magazine's reporter Michael C. Moynihan about his sources.

Last month, the 31-year-old science writer drew criticism for self-plagiarizing, copying — almost verbatim — lines from previously published material.

 

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