It's too bad that James Frey had to resort to making up parts of his story and push it as a true memoir. But I have to wonder, would people have found it as compelling if A Million Little Pieces was released as a work of fiction from the start? I mean, if Tim O'Brien can write fiction about war that still demonstrates how horrible war really is, how is it that a story about the struggle against personal demons couldn't shock people as well (like it did when marketed as a memoir)? I haven't read A Million Little Pieces, but a lot of face could've been saved if Frey owned up to begin with or avoided the trouble completely by releasing the book as fiction. I read Oprah's apology where she said the book is "a therapeutic tool for addicts," so even though the public was deceived. In general, people really should take memoirs with a grain of salt, but they should be able to look past some embellishments in order to gain something from what they have read.
I agree with Caitlin that people should take memoirs with a grain of salt. People have to realize that besides purposely lying in a memoir even the best memoirists have to recreate some things like dialogue and other details that it's impossible for them to remember. I feel like in Frey's case his book would have sold just as well if it was marketed as fiction. Oh and more importantly if he was honest Oprah wouldn't hate him for making a fool of her.
i thought this whole thing was stupid. ya the book was a memoir of his but people still read it and were inspired. I think its ridiculous to think that non fiction writers never stretch the truth.
I agree with Linda: all memoir requires recreation...that's what it is! Just don't flat out lie about it. And don't get caught by Oprah. Perhaps thats the real lesson...
Welcome to the official WR121: Genre Blog. This site will allow students to take classroom converstions out of the private sphere of the classroom and into the public realm.
Remember James Frey...
6 comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk6fA798p6o
This should be on the post, but I can't get it up there. You know how bad I am with technology.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk6fA798p6o
This should be on the post, but I can't get it up there. You know how bad I am with technology.
It's too bad that James Frey had to resort to making up parts of his story and push it as a true memoir. But I have to wonder, would people have found it as compelling if A Million Little Pieces was released as a work of fiction from the start? I mean, if Tim O'Brien can write fiction about war that still demonstrates how horrible war really is, how is it that a story about the struggle against personal demons couldn't shock people as well (like it did when marketed as a memoir)? I haven't read A Million Little Pieces, but a lot of face could've been saved if Frey owned up to begin with or avoided the trouble completely by releasing the book as fiction. I read Oprah's apology where she said the book is "a therapeutic tool for addicts," so even though the public was deceived. In general, people really should take memoirs with a grain of salt, but they should be able to look past some embellishments in order to gain something from what they have read.
I agree with Caitlin that people should take memoirs with a grain of salt. People have to realize that besides purposely lying in a memoir even the best memoirists have to recreate some things like dialogue and other details that it's impossible for them to remember. I feel like in Frey's case his book would have sold just as well if it was marketed as fiction. Oh and more importantly if he was honest Oprah wouldn't hate him for making a fool of her.
i thought this whole thing was stupid. ya the book was a memoir of his but people still read it and were inspired. I think its ridiculous to think that non fiction writers never stretch the truth.
I agree with Linda: all memoir requires recreation...that's what it is! Just don't flat out lie about it. And don't get caught by Oprah. Perhaps thats the real lesson...
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