Yes
By Rachel Brook. Immediately after the publishing of Lorenzo Carcaterra’s book Sleepers. in 1995, controversy arose as to the truthful nature of the story. The controversy intensified in 1996, after the book was made into a. movie directed by Barry Levinson. Author Lorenzo Carcaterra has claimed that his book on which the film is based was a true story of his childhood. When the New York legal community went on record stating that no cases resembling the events of his book could be found in any court records, Carcaterra refused to discuss the discrepancy. 1 The Haunting In Connecticut purports to be based on a true story. 2  However, Ray Garton, the author of the book that the film (and a Discovery Channel documentary) was based on, has admitted that the true story was a fabrication. Strong challenges to the book's story were raised by the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church and School on the West Side of Manhattan (which Mr. Carcaterra attended), where priests expressed outrage about the author's assertions, and by the Manhattan District Attorney's office. Leave a Comment. The movie Sleepers, based on the book by Lorenzo Carcaterra, opened on October 18 to a protest by the Catholic League. The Propaganda Films movie (a Warner Brothers company) purports to be a true story about a New York Catholic school, Sacred Heart. Sleepers, which may or may not be based on a true story (the author of the novel, Lorenzo Carcaterra, isn't doing interviews these days), spans fifteen years. Much of the action transpires in New York's Hell's Kitchen, which stretches from 34th to 56th Street west of 8th Avenue to the Hudson River. HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 21— ''Sleepers,'' the No. 1 film at the box office over the weekend, begins with a narrator's saying, ''This is a true story about friendship that runs deeper than blood.''.
http://www.forumonlawcultureandsociety.org/2009/11/20/the-truth-behind-sleepers/ http://blogcritics.org/sleepers-by-lorenzo-carcaterra/ http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BasedOnAGreatBigLie http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/22/movies/sleepers-debate-renewed-how-true-is-a-true-story.html http://www.catholicleague.org/hoax-movie-sleepers-defames-catholic-school-and-priest/ http://www.angelfire.com/tn/bradrenfro/Sleepersreviews.html http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/22/movies/sleepers-debate-renewed-how-true-is-a-true-story.html
is the book sleepers based on a true story