Hell, I’m working on one my damn self…and I sure as shit hope that shit is good.
Pause...fret...continue.
I’m not working on Memoirs of a Bitch...mercy...and this bitch thinks the memoir may be in trouble after yet another publishing malfunction revealed a memoir to be a work of fiction.
Gasp.
This is more than just a failure of fact checking…or another author who has lost his damn mind...this bitch thinks it’s an example of the masses failing to properly appreciate fiction.
Blink.
Some of these memoirs exposed as fiction are really good works of…well, fiction!
But we like the fantastical to be real…to read about amazing real life stories of beautiful romance, foster children turn gang members turned authors or a million little pieces of recovery.
Those stories may be out there, but do they only work if they are true life fact infused memoirs?
Fiction kicks ass...sometimes an escape from reality is just what you need. A bitch can't help but wonder why people opt for the lie rather than admit that they wrote a good story and less than half of it really happened.
Mayhap it’s easier to promote a memoir and that’s why they are hot. A few sessions of media training for the author and they can send her or him forth to share their so false it sinks tale to the masses.
Or maybe the authors are assholes trying to make a dime and get fifteen minutes fast and easy.
Either way, my people call that shit fiction.
Fiction, for the love of all that's still a good read and should have been pitched that way!
Lawd, have mercy...
10 comments:
Yeah me too.. i prefer beautiful fiction to made-up non-fiction which later turns out to be untrue.. that makes me sad.
Ah yes, the public feels duped and used again.
But as you so rightfully say here..its IS good fiction, so just call it what it is...its' still a good read.
Given the limited experience we all have, a good writer can pour out a lot more truth in fiction than non fiction. Also, a good reader can take more in. Also, artistry...
-Doug in Oakland
Apparently the bible is still one of the most popular works of fiction. Can you imagine how horrifying it would be if followers of, say the NY Times Bestseller list started insisting we live our lives by some of those efforts? I could perhaps handle Malcolm Gladwell, but GLENN BECK???
LOL - a bitch couldn't handle The United Church of Tipping Points if my life depending on it!
Oh and I'm allergic to Beck...
http://angryblackbitch.blogspot.com/2008/02/glenn-beck-is-asshole-or-how-i-learned.html
He makes my Afro hurt.
My guess? The standards and competition for fiction are more daunting.
Now who do you want to be measured against? Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Updike, Heller, The Bronte Sister, even Steven King, or instead of them, ex-crack addict No. 47?
Hey Shark-Fu: Read your glowing (from the heat) review of the asshat Beck. Right on. As for Gladwells's books, I've noticed you "Blink" and even double-blink at times :}
1. Good fiction properly pitched as such often offers more truth than non-fiction.
2. Autobiography is the first step towards pure fiction, which is always already autobiography anyway.
3. This ain't the first time Oprah's been taken in by a Confidence Game, and it won't be the last.
I don't know what the hubbub is regarding the story not being true. I think the more important thing here is that it was a compelling read. Isn't that why she selects the books she does, rather than selecting them based on genre?
And really, if Oprah is being duped, so too are the editors and publishers who are getting the books into print... aren't they?
Personally, I don't care what Oprah says or recommends. Very rarely have I gone out to buy a book on her "Book Club" list; and iffin' I do obtain the book, I can tell you it's not because she gave it the "thumbs up," it's because I thought it would be a good read.
Additionally... if folks want to "out" every work of fiction which has been presented as FACT, perhaps we should start with redacting all the lies and injustices found within most American high school history books.
Here endeth my two cents.
True story or fiction - if it puts fire in our heart and opens our mind to new vision and greater understanding... that's good sh*t.
Kay
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