Defending his decision to publish the book, Mayer said: The hoax was originally spotted by The Strad magazine.

The author had submitted an article with illustrations and facsimiles of music manuscripts, but the sub-editor on the title, Matthew Rye, became suspicious that the images had been faked and that the facts could not be corroborated.

[citation needed] The book does not really belong in fiction because it is not a typical narrative, but the art history section would also be incorrect because much "historical" fact has been invented.

[citation needed] Kriwaczek argues that his book is neither a hoax nor an attempt to mislead.

He issued a statement on October 5, 2006, saying that he wanted to "expand the notion of musical composition to encompass the creation of an entire artistic genre, with its necessary accompanying history, mythology, philosophy, social function, etc.