It was all a hoax, a mix-up. It never really happened.

But we all thought it did. Home visits by agents of Homeland Security could happen here. No one would be surprised.

Last week I reported on a news story claiming a student at UMass Dartmouth had been visited by Homeland Security at his parents' home because he had tried to borrow a copy of Chairman Mao's Little Red Book from his local library.

It turns out the student made it up. I apologize to my listeners and readers for believing this very plausible tale. Shortly after last week's Words on Books went out by email, reader Trish West sent me this update:

Dateline: Saturday, December 24, 2005 by The Standard-Times (New Bedford, Massachusetts): Federal Agents' Visit Was a Hoax. Student Admits He Lied About Mao Book

The UMass Dartmouth student who claimed to have been visited by Homeland Security agents over his request for The Little Red Book by Mao Zedong has admitted to making up the entire story.

The 22-year-old student tearfully admitted he made the story up to his history professor, Dr. Brian Glyn Williams, and his parents, after being confronted with the inconsistencies in his account.

Had the student stuck to his original story, it might never have been proved false. But on Thursday, when the student (again) told his tale... the student added new details.

The agents had returned, the student said, just last night. The two agents, the student, his parents and the student's uncle all signed confidentiality agreements, he claimed, to put an end to the matter.

But when Dr. Williams went to the student's home yesterday and relayed that part of the story to his parents, it was the first time they had heard it. The story began to unravel, and the student, faced with the truth, broke down and cried.

The professor told the newspaper, "When it blew up into an international story, our only desire was to interview this student and get to the truth.... It was a disastrous thing for him to do. He needs attention, he needs care. I feel for the kid. We have great concern for this student's health and welfare."

So it goes. We imagine the worst, and sometimes it's just a kid making things up. What a relief.

In her email, Trish West commented "Tony, It's still a great story and a good object lesson about becoming too complacent in regard to our freedoms."

In other news... Earlier this year we heard the abrupt announcement that the venerable independent bookstore Keplers Books in Menlo Park would be closing immediately, forever. As it turned out the community rallied, investors were found, a "Keplers Literary Circle" of member-donors was created, and owner Clark Kepler was able to turn things around and reopen the doors of this more than 50 years-old institution.

Finally, you may have missed a few book reviews this year. If you have a pencil and a scrap of paper, here are some of my favorite books from the past year:

Going Back by local writer and veteran Charles Furey. I've read a great number of war memoirs. This is one of the best and most humane.

The Preservationist by David Maine is the fictional story of Noah and the ark, and his family, and what became of them. It's better than the Bible story, and probably truer, too.

Rebecca Solnit is a fine essayist, and once again she's found a topic with universal significance in A Field Guide to Getting Lost.

Gualala first time novelist David Skibbens hit a grand slam with his first mystery thriller, Eight of Swords, set in the East Bay. Skibbins' book won "Best First Traditional Mystery" in the 2004 Malice Domestic competition.

I got a kick out of the inside dope related by Blair Tindall in her Manhattan memoir Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music. When Blair visited Mendocino we got to play the Mozart Oboe Quartet with her, too.

Beethoven: The Universal Composer by Edmund Morris provided new insight into the life of this complicated musical hero.

And some great new books to carry us into the new year:

The Tent by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood reads like a series of small dreams. It's an amazing work.

My Holy War: Dispatches from the Home Front is Seattle author Jonathan Raban's collection of essays dating from 9-11 to last summer. From Raban I learned more about the origins of terrorism than I did from reading a year of newspapers.

More on these two books later. In the meantime, Happy New Year and happy reading.

Aired Sunday January 1, 2006 at 10:55 am and Monday January 2, 2006 at 8:40 am

NOTES:

It was all a big mistake, and here's the news article that reveals the hoax: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1224-04.htm

For the original story: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-17-05/a09lo650.htm

When you wonder if something's a hoax, check here: http://www.snopes.com/

And here: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bltop25.htm

Keplers Books & Magazines: http://www.keplers.com/

Orders/Information:

Favorite books of 2005:

Going Back by Charles Furey. Bison Books paperback $16.95. ISBN 0803269137.

The Preservationist by David Maine. St. Martin's Press hardcover $21.95. ISBN 0312328478. Due in paperback this summer from Griffin (St. Martin's) for $12.95 ISBN 0312328486.

A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit. Viking Penguin hardcover $21.95. ISBN 0670034215.

Eight of Swords by David Skibbins. St. Martin's Press hardcover $23.95. ISBN 0312339062. Skibbins won "Best First Traditional Mystery" in the 2004 Malice Domestic competition.

Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music by Blair Tindall. Atlantic Monthly Press hardcover $24. ISBN 0871138905.

Beethoven: The Universal Composer by Edmund Morris. HarperCollins hardcover $21.95. ISBN 0060759747.