The author investigates literary hoaxes, pastiches, parodies, centons, and related forms of imitation and false attribution, offering definitions and fine distinctions between genres often conflated. He surveys critical and bibliographic discussions by prior scholars, examines theoretical issues about why imitation succeeds or fails, and analyzes techniques such as intercalation, supplements, and supposed authorship. The study sets out historical and modern examples to illustrate how style, tone, and errors can reveal or conceal forgery, and it provides bibliographic notes and critical commentary for readers interested in tracing such impostures and their treatment by critics and editors.