Make Believe: A True Story

I really enjoyed reading the book. An amazing personal account. I believed everything Diana said in her memoirs as many a times she also portrays herself as imperfect with the weaknesses of character. One feels sorry for both Hakim Jamal who is represented with psychological issues due to his experiences and Gail Benson (Hale) who is gullible and naive but both them being highly intelligent. It covers a great deal on Hakim which I had been interested in reading on. I wish a movie is made on this memoir.

Very very interesting .Diana Anthill has a way of holding your attention . .You can hardly believe these people exist.She forgives a conniving person by blaming his upbringing .This Guy seemed to be irresistible to wealthy women and Jean Seberg is an example of the sort of woman who fall under his spell.

enjoy her writing

as described quick delivery

I lve Diana s writing she is honest .....extreemly......vivid with words and it ois compulsive reading Diana I love you

Well, maybe that's not the best title for this particular review, bearing in mind the incident in which Hakim, the charismatic, self-proclaimed spokesman for Malcolm X, in cohoots with his biddable muse, verbally intimidates the author over the course of a night, trying to convince her that his is the chosen way. I haven't seen the film The Master, which is said to be about the origins of Scientology, but I imagine it's similar to that. The 'keep them up all night, wear them down verbally' thing is a well-known brainwasher's trick.It is best to devour this 130-page book in one sitting, as you can see more clearly how he manages to charm and inviegle his way into Athill's life, whereas if you dip into it over two weeks, you may be irritated at the lack of narrative and simply think, why is she still giving this guy the time of day? The book should be devoured in one sitting, in the same way that these blokes are devoured, or rather they hope to devour you; looking back the relationship being one all-consuming, continuous stretch, during which they wear you down.So this is less a book about a spokesman of Black Power than about someone tied up with a neurotic, a paranoid schitzophrenic who is intoxicated by his own rhetoric, so that their madness becomes your madness. Athill is compelling; like the best women authors she has produced a page turner with no intrusive passages of great literature to bore you down, the information provided is enough to convince you that the account is correct, I guess it is journalistic in the Hemingway tradition.Her conclusion is unusually sentimental however, and I do get the sense that she is rather more bitchy and unforgiving towards the women here rather than the man who is the cause of all the trouble. This is my second Athill book following Instead of a Book, her printed letters, and I feel that were she to have got involved around with Rolling Stone Mick Jagger circa '68, it would be Jagger's downfall we'd be reading about...I think this should be compulsory reading for teenage daughters everywhere, especially those from an academic background who are more susceptible, it's a cautionary tale against personality cults. Not to say that Athill's character is unimpeachable; note how she cheerfully proclaims to Hakim that if he leaves his letters with her, she's certain to read them. A skilled film-maker could hint at the contrast between the highly sexed posh gal and the poor but charismatic charlatan from a deprived background, in terms of who comes out on top.The introduction tells you much about Athill's life, and about the events in this book and how it turns out, that said the reading doesn't suffer for knowing this as the writing is so very good, indeed it may heighten your anticipation of events.

I chose to read this book after seeing "The Bank Job", a 2008 film based on true events from the early 1970s. Apparently the British secret service were behind a bank robbery in London motivated by the retrieval of photographs that Michael X was using as blackmail. Hakim Jamal's character enters "The Bank Job" in a very minor way in the film, but his girlfriend Gale Benson is brutally murdered by Michael X and associates. It's a minor part of the film's plot, but terribly upsetting. I wanted to know more about Benson and her death. A little internet digging led me to Athill's memoir that discusses her personal relation with Jamal and Benson. I was not disappointed.Athill was the book publisher of Jamal's book, and apparently helped a lot with its writing. She was also a friend and occasional lover of Jamal. Athill talks very candidly about her relationships, her motivations and her feelings. She presents Jamal compasionately but also realistically and convincingly. I found myself trusting her perspective in a story that involves people from extremely different backgrounds, from the slums of Boston to the literary elite of London. The lifes of Jamal and Benson make for a fascinating story with a tragic ending. Athill writes in an engaging, honest style, bestowing wisdom, compassion and insight.

I have been trying to keep up with Diana Athill since I discovered her several years ago, and this was an easy and not too expensive way to do so. Thank you.

We are told that the subject is interesting, but he doesn't come to life. Anthill is usually amazing, but she falls flat here.