The litigious reader (or, more specifically, their lawyer) contends that if you buy a cashmere jacket and discover that it's not 100 percent cashmere, you can sue on that basis. True, Frey presented his book as being factual (not good, but not a crime)--but a creative work and a jacket are not comparable. Take it from an old knitter--fiber and apparel are covered by very specific laws and regulations; there is no law requiring that one has to label a creative work such as a memoir in ANY way. True, my own feeling is that we, as writers, do have the responsibility to let the audience know when this has happened. Still, maybe we'll eventually see the passage of a Federal Truth in Memoir Act, so that all acts of imagination in nonfiction writing will be sufficiently purged for the greater good and the satisfaction of disgruntled readers.
Well, I could be on my soapbox all night about this, but I better get my labels ready for the time when The Strega's Story is published: "99.9 percent pure truth, exclusive of embellishment."
5 comments:
But James Frey didn't simply embellish. I'm okay with embellishing in creative non-fiction, and I don't get bent out of shape if McCourt exaggerates a bit.
But if it turned out McCourt hadn't really been, oh, Irish, or that his father hadn't really been a drinker, then that book would clearly be a work of fiction and the expectation of the reader would change significantly. Memoirs get much of their power from the fact that the reader is going, wow, this actually happened! Sure, we know bits and pieces may have been changed, and there's plenty of room for argument about how much wiggle room to give authors. But Frey went way beyond wiggle room. He wrote a novel. I think that's pretty clear. He tried to publish it as a novel and kept getting turned down, so changed it to a memoir as a marketing ploy. I can't see this as defensible.
Of course, I think the publisher has a few things to answer for here too.
Ellen
Although suing him is dumb. :-)
Ellen
True--after reading more about him (lord, Frey has a bit of an abrasive personality...eeek, scary), it would be like me writing about being Italian and the world discovering that my family are really Norwegians (not that there's anything wrong with Norwegians, of course). And I do agree--the sections he wrote are not just "wiggle room" or filling in a scene to make it comprehensible to an audience--saying he was in jail for months when that isn't true is trying to pull something over on the audience. I guess I'm more worried about larger implications for creativity--authors being dragged into the legal system because of readers feeling upset about a book in some way
I also totally agree about the publisher.
I wonder why yjru didn't they at least ask him to put in a disclaimer, or market it as a blend of fiction and memoir (it can be done). I think they knew they'd make more money if it was marketed as nonfiction. And THAT'S ridiculous and a sign of how greedy publishing has become. Thanks for your comments, Ellen--I sometimes get so pissed I can't see straight! luv, Joan
I think the publisher was in on this and just thought the public was too dumb to notice or care. Also, they were somewhat safe from discovery because the rehab center Frey was in couldn't talk due to confidentiality laws, and most of the important characters in the book conveniently died.
Bah.
Now a book like yours is different. Say, how do I know you really are Italian? I don't know. You might have just had an Italian neighbor and spent a lot of time over there. :-)
Ellen
Oh, it's all in the cooking (actually, I hate to cook sometimes).
We actually did have Italian neighbors; the rumor was that the dad peeped in windows at night. There was also another family across the street (I don't know if they were Italian). At around four o'clock most days, the youngest boy of that family would stand at the curb in front of his house, take forth his small wee-wee from his pants, and pee in the gutter. My younger sister and I used to wait for this hallowed event, in horrifed fascination.
And yes, I think the Frey incident is a combo of the author, publisher, and probably his agent thinking that people just won't notice. And thanks for the comment about my book. I think my own stress about it is just what we all go through as writers, whether it's okay for a book to come forth in the style it emerges--and I'm certainly not inventing facts out of whole cloth like this guy did. Ugh! But I still hate the idea of what I feel are frivolous lawsuits--too many of them in this country, anyway. I'm starting to feel like my dog could sue me if I don't get him the type of rawhide chews he likes from Costco.
lots of love to you, Ellen, and good luck getting that book turned in! That was the hardest part for me--I remember just wanting to get DONE! It will feel great when you turn the book in, believe me. It's an incredible story and I look forward to seeing your book published, my dear! peace and blessings, Joan
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