Free Republic

August 1, 2004 -- When Atria Books withdrew the memoir "Honor Lost" from publication early this week, it spotlighted a problem that surfaces often in the book publishing business: the author's veracity had been called into question. Mainstream book publishers, most of which release several hundred books a year, do not routinely fact-check their material. They optimistically rely on authors, agents and their own antennae for falsehood. And sometimes, a promotable author and a gripping story can be more publishable than the truth. "Honor Lost," published in 2003, is Norma Khouri's supposedly real-life story about the author and her Muslim...