Christopher Vecsey

"Naked Came the Stranger" was a 1969 novel conceived as a literary hoax, intended to satirize the perceived vulgarity and declining standards of American popular literature. A group of twenty-four journalists, led by Newsday columnist Mike McGrady, collaborated on the book. McGrady's aim was to prove that a deliberately poorly written novel filled with explicit sexual content could become a bestseller, reflecting his belief that the literary landscape was dominated by formulaic and salacious works.

The project involved significant effort to ensure the book was intentionally inconsistent and lacked literary merit, with some sections even being edited to be less well-written. Using the pseudonym "Penelope Ashe," the book was marketed with a fabricated author persona. The novel became a bestseller, and its subsequent revelation as a hoax, particularly the authors' confession on "The David Frost Show," further boosted its popularity. Profits from the book were divided equally among all contributors.

The genesis of "Naked Came the Stranger" lay in Mike McGrady's conviction that American literary culture had become superficial, with bestseller lists occupied by authors like Harold Robbins and Jacqueline Susann. He theorized that explicit sexual content alone could propel any book to success. To test this, McGrady assembled a team of nineteen male and five female journalists from Newsday in 1966. The goal was to create a sexually explicit novel devoid of any literary or social value. The collaborative process resulted in a deliberately disjointed narrative, with each chapter authored by a different person. In some cases, chapters were deemed too well-written and required editing to match the intended low quality. The book was submitted under the pen name "Penelope Ashe," with McGrady's sister-in-law, Billie Young, posing as the author for promotional purposes, including photographs and meetings with publishers.

The novel was published by Lyle Stuart, an independent publisher known for controversial and sexually themed books. The cover photograph was reportedly sourced from a Hungarian nudist magazine, leading to later payments to the model and photographer. Upon its release, "Naked Came the Stranger" quickly achieved bestseller status, selling 20,000 copies. This success prompted the co-authors to reveal the hoax in August 1969, with the male contributors confessing on "The David Frost Show." The revelation generated additional sales, pushing the book's figures to approximately 90,000 copies by mid-October 1969. While The New York Times gave the book a lukewarm review, it spent thirteen weeks on the bestseller list by the end of the year. The exact contribution of the book's content versus the publicity surrounding its origin to its success remains unclear. By May 2012, the publisher reported total sales of 400,000 copies. McGrady later detailed the hoax in his 1970 book, "Stranger Than Naked, or How to Write Dirty Books for Fun and Profit."

“In the category of erotic fantasy, this one rates about a C. The passing grade is for the author's attempt to twine a few thin strands of humor into her wishful thinking.”