Libel/slander Case?

[PLEASEHELPME2]

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! I am outraged and humiliated that a man named "Eric Nuzum" from NPR news in Washington, DC has written a book and decided to include me in it. I met this man in the summer of 2004 when an ex-boyfriend of mine and I traveled to Romania to go on a group "Dracula" tour.
My ex-boyfriend (who he named "Brad" in the book) were mostly interested in going for a different kind of experience, it sounded fun and indeed it was a good time.
Apparently "Eric", the writer of this book, was only on the trip to observe and collect info in order to write his book which was published 2007 titled: "The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula".
Although he claims otherwise, I NEVER consented to me being used in any form in this book.
This was all brought to light when I received an email from a stranger (from Colorado) saying that Eric Nuzum (writer of the book) mentions me numerous times in his book (although changed by name slightly) and makes me out to be an a&*hole. This of course piqued my interested so I searched for the book on Google. While I was unable to read the whole book online I did read excerpts about my character "Elaina" which are ludicrious, offensive and flat out NOT true! It is obvious that "Elaina" is me because it is very similiar to my real name and he mentions a TV show that I was on that many people may have seen. This whole debacle has caused me much embarassment and I fear it will tar my reputation. I really think the statements he made about my were slanderous and he had no business adding me to his book in order to add some drama and capitalize on his bogus book!!!!!
Any advice?

 

[ndragon]

First of all, if it was written, it is libel, not slander. Second, it is generally difficult to prove libel. Three criteria must be met.
The statement must be communicated to someone else; the nonessential third party.
It must be harmful to the reputation of the person the statement refers to.
It must be malicious, which means it must be deliberately harmful.
The third criterion is generally where it becomes most difficult to prove. You would have to show evidence of the author's frame of mind at the time he wrote the book, and prove he wrote the parts about you with the intention of harming your reputation.
Just remember that this sort of book is only appealing to a very small portion of the public. The likelihood of a respectable person who already has a high opinion of you reading this is remote at best.
I personally would not even waste my time reading this type of book, so you are still respectable in my opinion.

-Nick