In headlines this morning there is yet another author who has admitted to fabricating a memoir. You can read the full feature here.
Having worked painstakingly on my memoir for the last year, with intent focus on having it read like fiction, it’s odd that there have been a number of high profile books making headlines for the reverse. Without sitting in judgement of the choices someone else has made, it seems like it would be a much easier sell to promote your story as fiction. Fiction supposedly sells better, not to mention you don’t have to worry about all those picky little details like exact dates and times. Who knows maybe it’s an attempt to garner publicity. They say any press is good press, but I’m not sure it applies in this case.
One additional thought on this subject, for those who have written memoirs, I don’t think we actually wanted to write them. Being a fan of the genre I’ve read so many fabulous and true memoirs. Some my personal top include: Name All the Animals, Lifesaving, and Lucky. Like myself, I’m guessing the authors of these beautiful books felt compelled to write their stories. That’s the magic of memoir, the need to create from deep loss something of greater meaning. It’s this intimate look into how someone else has incorporated loss, and their willingness to share that experience that makes reading memoirs unique. I only hope that writers will continue to be brave enough to create art out of tragedy.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 10:06 am and is filed under Book Updates, Reading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
