When a kindergarten teacher takes her 16 students hostage and makes a set of demands, it not only rattles the Mumbai police and the city but also sends shockwaves through the country and its leaders as the motive behind the hostage situation is unearthed.

New York magazine’s October 2005 issue sent shockwaves through the literary world when it unmasked “it boy” wunderkind JT LeRoy, whose tough prose about his sordid childhood had captivated icons and luminaries internationally. It turned out LeRoy didn’t actually exist. He was dreamed up by 40-year-old San Francisco punk rocker and phone sex operator, Laura Albert.