Forged Letters: Reflecting on Can You Ever Forgive Me?

The story of Lee Israel through her memoir, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, stands as both a thought provoking and strangely genuine one. Over and over again, mistake after mistake, we are continually told how unlikable a person Lee Israel is. Her agent even goes as far to say her attitude is what’s costing her career as a writer. Though lying and insulting are definitely unlikable habits, one may question why didn’t she change herself to be more “likable?” It’s quite admirable. In an industry that requires approval from others, she never changed who she was. Contrasting the story’s theme of dishonesty, she always stayed true to herself. Her personal growth, as well, stands to be quite admirable. In her final testimony before being given sentence she states, “I mean, it’s the only time, recently, that I can remember being proud of my work. But it wasn’t really my work, was it? I mean, if I had put in my work, then I would’ve been opening myself up to criticism, and I’m too much of a coward to do that.” Since the start of her career, she had written about other people, never herself. Yet, her deciding to write a memoir shows her newfound ability to finally embrace herself. Lee Israel’s story is not an inspiring one, but an admirable one.