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[gratteciella]

I think that the controversy over James Frey's book, A Million Little Pieces, is very interesting. Basically, for those who haven't been following, his book (a memoir about his recovery from addiction and various traumatic childhood occurrences) was listed as part of Oprah's book club -- supposedly she said he was the man who made her cry at night

Comments

[kalient]

I haven't really been following the Frey debate, but I, too, think it's interesting that it's so important to publish a book that people are willing to perjure themselves. I just remembered an episode from Little House on the Prairie where Laura is trying to get her books published. The editor tells her that she needs to change some facts in order to keep people interested. Ma baking a pie isn't interesting unless she's baking a pie to keep her mind off the fact that Pa hasn't come home from a trip into the woods. I don't know if the Little House books are shelved under fiction or non-fiction, but I think they're probably considered memoirs.

But I have some trouble with the "emotional truth" idea, too. I guess I get suspicious when people describe something like being in jail for three months as being an emotional truth. Unless it's happened to you, how do you know what it's like? You don't, and you can't, and it turns the experience into a cliche. Wouldn't it be an artistic challenge to find words to explain yourself?

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