[atlaw]

So, what you are saying is that when Dan Brown writes in the front of his "novel" that "all this crap is true" he is just using a "literary device"?

Yes. Which is why the cover of the book says "a novel."

The rather simplistic device of claiming that a story is based upon "true" events ("only the names have been changed to protect the innocent" -- wink-wink, nudge-nudge) has been employed in everything from novels to comic books to television shows.

Surprisingly, it still seems to work.

[Taliesan]

Brown repeats this "literary device" in interviews, on his web page, etc., and refers readers to non-fiction works which purport to substantiate these historical facts which he really doesn't believe, but just acts like he believes, all the time.

I guess it's all ok, and we are silly for responding, since he really doesn't believe it all (though he never says he doesn't believe it all), and what he really believes (against all evidence) is what really counts.

Thanks for educating us in the nuance of authorial practice. I will ever after judge all writers by what they really believe, which I will make up out of thin air in spite of what they say. I am so much smarter now.

[AmishDude]

So you are saying that Dan Brown doesn't believe a word of what he says. That his "facts" are all hokum. That he knows it. That he lies about it in every interview to promote the book.

And that he knows he's lying about it now.

Right.