Is the partly-nonfiction Gay Talese book about the sex-peeping Colfax motelier any good?

Author Gay Talese disavowed his own book, but critics won’t!

staff photo
Dave Burdick

Hey! Remember when everybody got all fired up because of that book being written by famous journalist/author Gay Talese about a motel on Colfax owned by a guy who kept a notebook all about the sex he watched through peepholes he’d installed?

And remember when the peeper guy started getting death threats about it?

And remember when everybody got all fired up again because, wah-wah, it probably wasn’t all… true?

“I should not have believed a word he said,” the 84-year-old author said after The Washington Post informed him of property records that showed Foos did not own the motel from 1980 to 1988.

Well, do you wonder if “The Voyeur’s Motel” is any good?

USA Today: No, it’s gross.

NYT: No, but it feels like you’re really there with that creep and also we want to have it both ways.

Kirkus: Yes.

Publisher’s Weekly: Not really.

Verdict: Gay Talese disavowed his book, and then un-disavowed it — reavowed it? — and critics feel basically the same way.

Weird times

Denverite is powered by you. In these weird times, the local vigilance, the local context, the local flavor — it’s powered through your donations. If you’d miss Denverite if it disappeared tomorrow, donate today.

Support our work

You’re our superpower

Denverite supporters have made the decision to financially support local journalism that matters to you. Ready to tell your networks why? Sharing our “About” page with your own personal comments could really help us out.

Here’s that page

You’re our superpower

Denverite members have made the decision to financially support local journalism that matters to you. Ready to tell your networks why? Sharing our “About” page with your own personal comments could really help us out.

Here’s that page

Tagged

Gay Talese, lead-contaminated water, Gerald Foos, sen. cory gardner, Colfax, emissions