1/10/06
I know plenty of you are avid readers of fiction-ish non-fiction and non-fiction-ish fiction, so you've heard about the two revelations currently sending tongues a-waggin' in Manhattin': first off, JT Leroy was outed as a middle-aged woman using a fake prostitute transgendered road whore as a mouthpiece. Then there's James Frey, who apparently made up about 78% of "A Million Little Pieces."
Don't ask me to list the last two years' worth of cultural dissembling, because I've got a nine-month-old and I'd still be writing when she wakes up at 6am. The act of LYING has become deliciously rampant in all aspects of our culture, but like Mark Twain said about the weather, nobody does anything about it.
That's because they're all in on the game, and it is readers like you they'd like to meet, or at least, they'd like to separate a little bit of money from your debit card. I'm surprised nobody's written a book about the explosion of The Information Age and the opposite chain reaction of The Lie, since the two are obviously dating. In America, there are so many sources clamoring desperately for your attention that the only way to be heard is to be a fucking liar.
Nobody knows liars like a liar, and god knows I was one of the best in my day. My pathology was rampant, and to be honest, I only stopped lying when my life got as interesting and bizarre as the lies were. These days I have no need, but I'm sure there are at least two times per blog when I'm lying and don't even know I'm doing it.
***
I just checked what I wrote and found one. Lucy actually sleeps until 7am most mornings, but that wasn't as funny, and besides, I don't want to make other parents feel like we've got it easy. After all, baby habits are like what Mark Twain said about the weather: if you don't like it, wait a few minutes.
***
To go back to Leroy and Frey, however, I see their prevarications as only a temporary transgression. The only real reason their lies mean anything is that you know about it. Not having read any of their work, I can only report second-hand, but millions have enjoyed the way they strung words together, and in a few hundred years, who gives a shit? Like Mark Twain said about the Bible, it doesn't have to have happened in order to be true (actually, that was UNC's Dr. Bart Ehrman).
We are occasional attendees of this great storytelling event in New York called The Moth, where people - sometimes famous - have to get up in front of a huge audience and tell a true 15-minute story without notes.
One of them, a friend of Tessa's who may or may not have written some books you like, told a rapturous, torturous tale of a lost love affair he had in Africa. I thought it was absolutely incredible.
In cab ride home, the organizer sheepishly admitted that she knew his story to be utter bullshit. That memory made me mad for years, for actually feeling feelings about this guy and his story, and then realizing none of it had happened.
But really, what was my problem? At least I felt something. Many of you have expressed jubilation when Lucy was born, but you are thousands of miles away, and many of you don't know me from a box of oatmeal. And yet because you live and breathe, you commiserate, you felt something, had an experience. I feel sad when commenters who don't even give their real name sound sad. Shit, I get lost in stories that were supposed to be made-up - I mean, I know Aslan kills the White Witch every time, but DAMN!
Having an emotion is worth the sleight of hand, in my opinion. The rest is gossip.
You are too nice to these guys Ian. I agree, feeling something is great but I could've felt something from AMLP if it were labeled fiction too. In fact I still would've enjoy the book and praised the gripping story. However, he labeled this as non-fiction and instead manipulated me into thinking about his real life and worrying about him and wondering about him and causing me to worship at the altar of him that he's created (see his blog/website/etc.). What bothers me most is that he perpetuated an idea that extreme drug abuse can be shrugged off easily by those who are "strong enough" in spirit, that the 12 steps are stupid, and he didn't need them, etc. I think it set a lot of people up to feel like failures and weaklings. What bothered me the whole time I read it was not so much the unrealistic stories (the dental work without anesthesia, the passed out plane trip, etc.) but the whole idea that this guy made such an abrupt turn around from "fucking asshole" to moralistic hero in 6 weeks. It reignited a little hope for the many people I see who otherwise seem hopeless, and now I'm pissed that my hope was all based on lies!
Neva
First of all, I absolutely LOVED James Frey's books (AMLP and MFL).
Second of all, I am not sure if the Smoking Gun is a reliable source, so I do not accept the idea that he made up 78% of what he wrote.
Third: I don't care if he made it all up or lived every minute of it. The books were the best I have read in years, and I will continue to read whatever James Frey churns out.
The End.
Maybe he should have called it 220,000 Little Pieces, if the numbers are correct.
Anyway, I think what pisses me off was not that some of the stories were made up (these days, "creative non-fiction" cuts a wide swath; the guy who wrote "Sleepers" and claimed it was autobiographical was unmasked as having made it up the wilder details too), but JT Leroy supposedly announced he was HIV positive, and it's not fair to tug at people's heartstrings and lure their attention and money away from other people who have a real need for that sort of attention and help.
Care to substitute Bush for Frey in this entry?
He's probably laughing all the way to the bank 'cause I know there are probably zillions of people out there like me who are going to rush to buy it now. My interest has gone up considerably. I figure it's kinda like Milli Vanilli - sure, I knew they didn't sing it, but I don't care 'cause I still love me some "Blame it on the Rain."
Ian (or anyone else in the know), is an iPod Shuffle still a good purchase? Someone in my mommies group is selling a new in the box Shuffle for $75 OBO (says she paid $99) and I'm thinking of offering $50 or $60 to see if she'll bite. Good deal at any of those prices or no? (Thanks in advance for any input.)
I don't know, I think the lying was always there; the Information Age has just made it easier to expose and, therefore, it seems like there's more of it.
LFMD and SLS - remembering your posts on "The Bachelor" the other day, y'all did happen to notice his alma mater, right? I'll still watch, but I hope he picks the biggest gold-digger in the group! It's a pity he cut the scary "I want to reproduce" chick...
Uh... you're not telling us you made Lucy up are you?
In the book, and in life, Frey was miserable, wretched, in ridiculous mental and physical anguish. That was more than conveyed to me in the book.
Heck, we all take literary license, right? We all embelish stories, not to lie, but to try and convey to the listener how you were feeling, which we never literally can, so we overcompensate with dramatic flair.
Look, he WAS "an alcoholic, an addict and a criminal". He went through rehab and became sober and productive. He's helped and affected (and entertained) tons of people with his story. I have no problem if his crimes weren't as "glamorous" as he described.
These are lies I could not really care less about. I agree with you, Ian.
What if we had the internet back when Truman Capote (supposedly) wrote "To Kill A Mockingbird" and gave it to Harper Lee to publish under her name as a gift?
I don't think that if David Sedaris, Augusten Burroughs or even Sarah Vowell were discovered to have embellished or even outright lied about some of their supposedly non-fictional accounts I would like or respect them any less. They have the gift of stringing words together, as you say.
Again, these are lies that don't bother me. There are many more important and influential liars out there who are actually doing damage with their lies. Lying about the inspiration for a book does not damage anyone, except if one considers being suckered into reading something damaging. I think that's what most people are upset about. They've read this book, called it amazing, gleaned a few lessons from it and now just because the source is questionable, is that reason to dislike the book or discount the good things people have gotten from it?
Of course, I'm saying this all before I have read it, so I suppose this information may color my interpretation of this book, but I am still looking forward to reading it (James Frey graduated the year after me at Denison U., and that's no lie).
JJE-I got a shuffle for Christmas from my beloved sis and I LOVE it---although I am certain other (bigger/NANO) versions are better, for the money, it beats any OTHER portable music system hands down.
Re: Ian's post: if it's a good read, why does >truth< matter? unless, of course, there's apparent/evident import and or consequences. . .read BUSH!!
quentin thomas sucks ass.
Also, there was that guy Dave Peltzer who wrote "A Man Called Dave" etc. and the NY Times magazine wrote a piece exposing that there was little evidence about his being abused, and no one seemed to care or respond to this.
>>>if it's a good read, why does >truth< matter?
Well, it becomes a better read if you believe it really happened - and I don't think that's fair. It sort of lowers the bar for what you have to write, it is unfair to those who have real stories of triumphing over adversity that can help people...it all depends on how much is made up. There is some license, as I noted before, allowed with creative nonfiction.
But tugging at people's heartstrings, convincing them you had AIDS when you didn't, saying you were abused when you weren't...that's not fair.
It's ironic because the writers of "semiautobiographical fiction" are on the other side of the fence, trying to disown the fact in the fable.
With Frey, there are a lot of people (I'm among them, I confess, and I bet there are some journalists in that number) who are jealous of his wild success, and that's the biggest part of this tempest. If he'd sold about 10,000 books, we wouldn't even be having this discussion about betrayal, because it takes an angry mob (or one pissed-off journalist) to drum up any religious fervor. The role that Oprah has played in modern book publishing is staggering.
It's covert evangelism and propaganda to represent your fiction as fact. Everything we experience or witness whether directly or vicariously is a lesson about life, reality, the world and what it's all about. I prize my world view and I like to manage it's evolution. I don't want people feeding it garbage data. Garbage in, garbage out.
Afterthought: There are just a few people we trust to lie to us, and them only barely: Our parents, our lovers, our elected representatives. I won't dole that out that power indiscriminantly. As my society fills with false fact tellers, I become more skeptical, which saves me from falling for untruths, but also prevents me from enjoying the benign white lies I wouldn't mind hearing from my lover, and as I accept little of what I hear it shuts down the inflow of data of what's real and true to a trickle--impoverishing and alienating me from the world. In short, lying is bad.
>>JT Leroy was outed as a middle-aged woman using a fake prostitute transgendered road whore as a mouthpiece
Huh? What the. . .?
I admit it: I worship Oprah, and I read whatever she tells me to, hence, I know all about James Frey. And, I stand by my statement that his two books are two of the best I have ever read. And, I have read a lot of books.
On the other hand, I have never heard of JT Leroy until today's post. I was stumped by your description of him, and after Googling JT, I still don't know what the hell he is about.
I think that I will stick with Oprah.
add reality tv to the list. just ask the writers who are trying to get union representation how real it is.
JJE - as for the ipod shuffle i have one and love it. its great for travel because it is so small and light and you can wear it around your neck. you can also manipulate the shuffle if you want to select the exact entries you want to put on the device. it does retail for 99 dollars so 50 bucks would be a steal.
Thanks kjf and killian. I think I'll make the offer and see what happens.
kjf - excellent point about "reality" tv.
left-wing psuedo intellectual stooge authors lying, is that really a surprise ?
Dean and Harry Reid are on Abramoff's payroll and little sheeple Ian just pulls the wool over his eyes
Meanwhile, Michael had a meeting with Leroy in person because we share office space with his manager. He claims he knew it was a woman, but he/she came in wearing the full getup. Also, apprently his agent had no idea, either.
Random House is offering a refund on James Frey's book:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10807257/
Too bad they didn't have a disclaimer at the beginning: "Any similarity to real life is purely coincidental."
LeRoy's The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things was the first book I occasionally put down, not because I was bored, but because I had to recover emotionally from the last paragraph. I endured the story both because I liked the writing and because I believed someone who had suffered so deserved to be heard. I "felt something" I didn't really want to feel, could have done without, and now I'm feeling pissed off.
Get down, get down...
There's a big difference between lying and exaggerating. Saying that Lucy gets up at 6 is not a lie, it's just an exaggeration of the truth. My Mother is the Queen of exaggeration; I think it's a common trait in Southern women.
Anyway, I haven't read Frey's book, and I'm not going to. I have 3 kids 6 and under (no lie) and I haven't read 2 books in 2 years! (small exaggeration)
Hey all. My man Frey will be on Larry King in 10 minutes. Don't miss it.
Oh, and I am much more disturbed by the Jolie-Pitt pregnancy than supposedly fraudulent memoir writing. Brad -- you made the biggest mistake of your life by dumping Jen. Mark my words. Angelina is just plain crazy! She may be hot, but she is nuts!
And does she still have that BillyBob tattoo above her...um...netherregions? Wouldn't that be kind of a downer during sex (that is, if you're not BillyBob?) Maybe she can cross out "illyBob" and write "rad." That'll look really sexxxy.
Two things about Frey:1) I read he originally shopped million little pieces as a work of fiction.
2) It's one thing to exaggerate or, as he claimed on Larry King, not accurately remember what happened 20 years ago in exact detail, but I guarentee you most people could tell you how many times they've been in jail and for how long.
I guess I look at Frey the same way I'd look at someone who made up a bunch of stuff to make themselves seem like more interesting/tough/troubled than they are...sort of pathetic.
chip,
right on! i couldn't agree with you more. i've been kicking this thing around with a couple of folks on my blog. i respect frey for overcoming what seem to have been extremely powerful addictions to multiple substances, but his assumption of artistic license without acknowledging his work's inaccuracies until he had been caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar is what is pissing me off so much. what affected me so much about his work was its rawness, and to find out that it wasn't nearly as raw as he led millions of people to believe makes me want to rip his book into a million little pieces. and don't get me started on oprah's call to larry king. she knows she can't retract an oprah selection, as this might momentarily slow production at the oprah mint. did you know she's on the cover of her magazine this month? or wait, was that last month...