"Heather Jessup asks us to look closely at how, and why, we believe what we do. Often funny, sometimes heartbreaking, and always highly readable, This Is Not A Hoax is essential reading for all of us right now - artists, writers, teachers, activists, citizens - who wrestle with making, or unmaking, the distinctions between fiction and non-fiction, truth and lies. Jessup's smart, probing, entirely human study invites us to re-see and re-imagine our relationship to these categories, as well as to the hegemonic power structures implicit within every system of classification" - Johanna Skibsrud, Author of The Sentimentalists, Winner of the Giller Prize
"A parlour game? A sly wink-and-nod? A cruel but usually harmless trick perpetrated on the unwary? All of my previous associations with the hoax have been overturned by this elegantly argued, deeply thoughtful, and passionately political book. Drawing on an abundance of examples from visual arts and literature produced in Canada, Heather Jessup shows us how these seemingly momentary glitches in the fabric of our deeply held assumptions and conventions have the interruptive power to turn our reflections towards the searing disruptions of colonization, genocide, and institutionally sanctioned cruelty. This is a rare, creative work of cultural scholarship" - Lorraine York, Senator William McMaster Chair, Canadian Literatures and Cultures, McMaster University
"In this immensely readable book, Jessup makes the case for the necessity of disruption. This is Not a Hoax proves that our innate human gullibility can be a powerful tool for questioning the institutions and experiences that shape our lives" - Mandy Len Catron, author of How to Fall in Love with Anyone: A Memoir in Essays
"The art forger concentrates on what our culture expects to see. Heather Jessup, in illuminating the lie, tells us some important truths about our personal, national, and earthly prejudices. This is Not a Hoax is an essential read in an era of fake news.." - Michael Winter, Author of The Death of Donna Whalen