Stephen Glass was a reporter for The New Republic magazine during the late 1990s. When in 1998 it was discovered that he had committed several cases of journalism fraud, the magazine fired Glass and his journalistic career came to an end.
The story which triggered these events was called "Hack Heaven", and concerned a 15 year old computer hacker who extorts a large company after breaking into their computer system. Like several of Glass' previous stories, "Hack Heaven" depicted events that were almost cinematic in their vividness and that were told from a first-person perspective implying Glass was there as the action took place. Below is the story's lead:
- Ian Restil, a 15-year-old computer hacker who looks like an even more adolescent version of Bill Gates, is throwing a tantrum. "I want more money. I want a Miata. I want a trip to Disney World. I want X-Man comic [book] number one. I want a lifetime subscription to Playboy, and throw in Penthouse. Show me the money! Show me the money!"...
- Across the table, executives from a California software firm called Jukt Micronics are listening- and trying ever so delicately to oblige. "Excuse me, sir," one of the suits says, tentatively, to the pimply teenager. "Excuse me. Pardon me for interrupting you, sir. We can arrange more money for you ..."
After TNR fired Glass, nothing further was heard from him until 2003 when he began appearing on television to promote his "biographical novel" The Fabulist. A movie detailing Glass' experiences called Shattered Glass completed production in June 2003.
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