Really, it was more like 4,500 little pieces
I’ve been wanting to write about this for so long. But thought I’d leave it to the more literary blogs. Ryan mentioned it on his. And I keep waiting for Gigi to give us her $.02. But when I saw this, I just had to laugh. And stuff that makes me laugh often makes its way here.
“What do you think of Oprah’s change of heart?” they ask. Fuck, I don’t know, the fact that there has been huge public outcry, maybe? (Not that “the public” would ever turn its back on Oprah. Well, not for something like this, anyway.) That even the great Michiko Kakutani wrote about it, perhaps?
Oprah’s claim that she is doing something now because her inaction “left the impression that the truth is not important,” is good enough for me. I’m glad she had him on the show and I’m glad that she made him answer, at least to faithful Oprah watchers, for his misleadings. But mostly, I’m happy this thing has drug on for as long as it has been. I love the discussion it’s prompted. How truthful does a memoir need to be? What makes it different from an autobiography anyway? Do we need disclaimers in the front matter of every book explaining exactly what the reader is getting? (Which makes me think of something I heard about how the Catholic church is demanding that the producers of the DaVinci Code movie insert something in the opening credits that says “This is a work of fiction.” That’s a whole other post.)
God knows, as do some of my closer friends, that I sometimes embellish the shit I write here. I don’t think I post anything that is so far from the truth that the meaning is lost. But I misquote, or requote, as I see necessary. And I fill in details that I don’t totally remember. (What can I say? I’ve blocked out most of my childhood and I drink a lot.) But people aren’t paying me for something other than what they are getting. Hell, y’all aren’t paying me period.
I’m pissed at James Frey. And I think what’s happening is both hilarious and just. It’s maybe just a touch out of hand, but so was prison, wasn’t it Jimmy? Oh wait, it wasn’t?
January 26th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
I’m glad you finally tackled this! I’ve been thinking about it but I’m not totally sure what my reaction is. Part of me thinks it’s *much ado about nothing,* and part of me thinks it’s horrible for all the reasons Kakutani cited. And frankly I think we should be a lot harder on the publisher. Memoirs always sell better than novels so I believe that is the source of the problem. Someone could have stopped this before it started.
When thinking about Frey’s predicament, I keep coming back to something I once heard David Shields say, “I can’t write a note to my daughter’s second grade teacher without its being fiction.” Ironically, it’s likely that truer words were never spoken (at least relative to this topic). Our thoughts, our interpretations, our perspectives skew everything. Our perception of the truth, especially when writing about our own lives is totally subjective. Of course there’s no excuse for embellishing to such an extent and flat out lying, but in the scheme of things, aren’t most memoirs shaded with untruths by the very nature of writing about one’s own memories?
The more I think about this the more angry I am at the publisher for having made a dishonest decision based on sales and marketing. I fault Frey for allowing it to happen (he has admitted to having originally written the book as a novel), but if you were a first time author, excited about finally being published, you’d have probably gone along with it too, happily assuming you’d never get caught.
And as for Oprah, she’s cowtowing to the public just like the publisher, giving them whatever will sell best. Last week it wasn’t a big deal because she felt like whether the book was fiction or nonfiction, it was still an inspirational story that could help other addicts. This week she wants to make sure people didn’t think she thought the truth was unimportant. If she was truly concerned with truth, rather than defending her book club pick, she wouldn’t have said that whether the book was a memoir or a novel was *much ado about nothing.* Now that she’s been slammed right along with Frey, she’s defending herself instead of the book. It’s a smart move on her part, no doubt, but it’s no different than what Frey or his publisher did.
Well, now I guess I don’t need to post about this!
January 26th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
I couldn’t agree more with glamm. Similar thoughts have been running through my head as I watched Oprah today. I think that James Frey was dishonest and ammends and repairs should be made. According to the publisher, they are now including an author’s note in the next printing of the book. I think that it is unfortunate for the millions of readers who thought this was 100% accurate, but I also kind of have to think that we, as a society, have made this very easy to accomplish. Glamm is so right on when she writes of the truth being subjective. To Frey, this book is the truth, whether it is fact or not. I’m not defending him. I never read the book and have never really wanted to. I think that a lot of good can come from this ado, even if it is just more careful research by publishers.
I want to thank The Girl for providing me a place to let my thoughts be heard w/out me having to blog everyday!
January 31st, 2006 at 3:00 pm
I think the key words are Katie’s when she mentioned a disclaimer in the NEXT PRINITNG of the book. The publisher must still have some faith in the upcoming sales of the book. I’ve always admired Oprah but sometimes she’s a bit too righteous. Did Frey write the book thinking it was fiction. I’d like to know. The Seattle Law firt who filed a suit last week claiming damages for the readers who wasted thier time reading the book should be laughed out of town. Gee Whiz! I don’t know how to define a waste of time but I know it when I see it? Give us a break.
February 3rd, 2006 at 2:53 pm
[…] I’ve already prattled on about the James Frey controversy over at Hickopolis so I won’t go through that all over again, however I was just catching up on a little Publishers Weekly reading, and came across editor-in-chief Sara Nelson’s weekly essay, this one regarding the Frey debacle. While it’s a couple of weeks old (I told you I was catching up) and pre-Oprah fallout, it’s still a perfect commentary on the situation. It harkens back to Oprahs original “much ado about nothing” attitude but also clearly states that the publisher was just giving its readers what they always want: “a really good story.” Book buyers consume memoirs like Atkins dieters inhale burgers without buns. If readers weren’t happy with Frey’s lies, well, you know what they say…Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. […]