Fake Memoirs

I read this article today in the NY Times, on Oprah’s O magazine endorsing Love and Consequences, a memoir about a a bi-racial gangbanger. It turns out the author is white and “well-to-do” and made the whole thing up.

Love and Consequences: A Memoir of Hope and Survival by Margaret B. Jones Read more about this book…

The publisher has withdrawn copies of the book from sale and offered refunds to people who’ve already bought it. It’s the second fake memoir scandal for Oprah who selected James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces for her bookclub, and later discovered he had embellished part of his story about recovering from drug addiction (although for the most part it was true).

I just don’t get what all the fuss is about? Are people buying these memoirs for research purposes? Are they conducting a study on gangbangers or drug addicts? No. They are buying them for ENTERTAINMENT. Why does it matter if the entertaining and well-written books (if that’s what they happen to be) turn out to be fiction?

Since when did FICTION become a dirty word?

I’m not saying I agree with the author’s tactics in pretending to be someone else and passing her novel off as a true story. In Margaret B Jones’ case (aka Margaret Seltzer) she had fooled her publisher and editor with fake photos, letters and foster siblings and was getting away with it until her sister dobbed her in to the NY Times. (Thanks, sis!)

But for people who have already read the book and maybe enjoyed it, was their enjoyment diminished by later finding out that it was made up?

I read A Million Little Pieces before I knew parts of it were exaggerated (and not on Oprah’s recommendation, because, well, I can’t say I pay that much attention to her opinion on anything) and it is an incredible book.

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey Read more about this book…

Short review - a REALLY graphic and harrowing story of drug rehab with some amazing, disgusting and thought-provoking issues. Well-written, touching and unforgettable (particularly the scene at the dentist *shudder*)

I found out afterwards some of it was embellished. So what? I still enjoyed the book. I’d still recommend it (if you can stomach it - it is very descriptive!).

I’m certainly not going to take it back for a refund!!!

I remember reading Memoirs of a Geisha years ago and coming to the end where the author’s note revealed that it was a work of fiction. My reaction? Wow. That was really well written, I completely believed it was true. And then - Wow. The male author has written about a woman so well.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden Read more about this book…

Perhaps this is more an indictment on the general reading public that they put more store by a shocking tale that’s true, rather than appreciating the skill of a great writer who can make you believe that the events really happened. It must be incredibly hard to get a book deal, so the pressure for authors to set themselves apart from the masses is huge. But I just don’t see why a story being true makes it any more entertaining and appealing to readers.

And it seems that the more harrowing the story the better. Obviously our lives are not interesting at all unless we’ve been through unspeakable hardship and trauma and lived to tell the tale.

True memoirs do have an important place on my bookshelf and on many people’s, I’m sure. But not at the expense of engaging and creative fiction.