Duped

“Duped” is testament to the deep and enduring damage deception can inflict. What people don’t know hurts them. Reading “Duped” gave me occasion to second-guess even gentler deceptions; it may actually have made me a (slightly) better person. Which is more than I can say for many a better book.

Abby Ellin also visits this week, to discuss her new book, “Duped: Double Lives, False Identities, and the Con Man I Almost Married.” “When somebody is lying to you about being in the C.I.A. and being a Navy Seal and being responsible for this secret operation and that secret operation, you can’t verify it,” Ellin says. “Even if I wanted to, it would have been hard. And also, I didn’t think that was a loving way to kick off a relationship.”

“at its best, the book is charged by curiosity about what people need from each other, and the lies and suspensions of disbelief that sometimes help them get it.”