James Frey: "The emotional truth is there." Can you find it?

And, by golly, if it's emotional truth, it's the best sort of truth, right? Frey, author of the best-selling book, A Million Little Pieces, made the remark, Yahoo News reports, in his defense of the contents of his book/memoir/novel/true story/emotionally true story/partially true and very emotional story (see my previous post about this topic). And Oprah Winfrey, a big supporter of the book, called into the "Larry King Live" show (transcript here) that Frey appeared on,

dismissing allegations of falsehoods as "much ado about nothing" and urging readers who have been inspired by the book to "Keep holding on."

"What is relevant is that he was a drug addict ... and stepped out of that history to be the man he is today and to take that message to save other people and allow them to save themselves," Winfrey said Wednesday night in a surprise phone call to CNN's Larry King, who was interviewing Frey on his live television program.

All of this raises a few questions about minor issues such as truth, facts, history, memory, integrity, and the meaning of memoir:

Wednesday night, Frey said that only a small percentage of his 430-page book had been challenged and offered a defense similar to that of his publisher: Memoirs are by nature imperfect and subjective and should not be held to the standards as other nonfiction books.

"In the memoir genre, the writer usually takes liberties," he said. ... Winfrey herself acknowledged the vagaries of memoirs, saying Wednesday night she knows that maybe "the names and the dates and times have been compressed." She said she hoped the controversy would inspire further debate.

"Compressed"? If the Smoking Gun piece is accurate (and it is a very detailed piece), the far better word is concocted. Besides, when did the memoir become such a vague genre? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "memoir" in less, um, sloppy terms:

Etymology: Middle French memoire, from memoire memory, from Latin memoria
1 : an official note or report : MEMORANDUM
2 a : a narrative composed from personal experience b : AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- usually used in plural c : BIOGRAPHY
3 a : an account of something noteworthy : REPORT b plural : the record of the proceedings of a learned society

However, if this 2003 article in The Age is any indication, taking huge "liberties" with the facts (and non-facts) is becoming commonplace in the writing of memoirs. Is this because most authors realize that their real life isn't any more interesting, exciting, or unique than the lives of 99.9% of the population?

Meanwhile, if this "vagaries of memoirs" argument flies, perhaps Christians need to start using it whenever skeptics question some name, incident, or event in the Bible. Oh, and — paraphrasing Oprah — be sure to mention that Jesus, while never a drug addict, college student, or a guest on "Oprah," "stepped out of history to be the man he is today and to take that message to save other people and allow them to save themselves." Or something like that. Does it really matter? After all, the important thing is that Frey's book has helped some people "hold on." And maybe the Bible could provide encouragement and relief to a few desperate souls as well. Finally, in case you were wondering, there's no word yet if Ron Howard or Tom Hanks will seek to make a movie of A Million Little Pieces...

Comments

[Cristina A. Montes]

I don't mind reading memoirs whose authors take liberties with the facts, but I want to be warned beforehand that they are taking liberties with the facts. For example, I've seen a book based on the author's childhood and she explained in her preface that she dramatized it a bit. What I don't like is when authors distort the facts and pass of their works as nonfiction.

[Patrick Coulton]

Oprah's comments are self-serving and pernicious. Frankly,
I am shocked that Oprah would recommend such a filthy book
to an audience of women. What does this say about her?
About her audience?
(My knowledge of the book is taken from
quotes in The Smoking Gun article)

How many people may be hurt by these revelations.

More important, how many people took his claim that he
overcame his difficulties by sheer will power seriously?

Are these people imperiled by his lies?

It is certainly easier to see the damage done by lying
when it effects people with physical ailments.
It is not so easy to see the damage done in the spiritual realm.

[ro49ck]

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