Truth in Memoir

If you say something is non- fiction, then it better be non- fiction. One hundred percent of it, not seventy, not eighty, not even nighty- five, one hundred percent. When you read non-fiction, often you are doing so in order to learn about something, but if what you “learn” is untrue, then it defeats the whole purpose. Also the thing that makes memoirs so powerful and such great stories is the fact that they are true. It’s not someone’s imagination at work, it is real life. Knowing this, memoirs have the ability to move us in ways that an ordinary novel cannot. We can be hurt and sad feeling the pain in the story. Or we can be inspired and filled with happiness for the triumph in the story. But if we find out it’s all fake, then what’s it worth? Anyone can make up a story of someone who beats the odds, or a story of a tragedy that made someone stronger in the end, or a story of a fascinating, interesting life filled with bittersweet memories. It’s when these things have actually happened to someone that we create the connection and find ourselves thinking about the story in our own life. I think this is why so many authors call pieces memoirs, which have really been fabricated. They know it makes the story that much better, that much stronger, and most importantly it makes people want to read it that much more.

I do think half-truths are okay though, with one exception. The author must state that the story is not non- fiction. I’m not asking them to call their book fiction and lump it together with a bunch of other great stories. People should know that some of the story is true. That’s why I believe if someone is going to write a memoir and they are going to add or change things, they must say this work is based on a true story, or loosely based on a true story. That way the reader going in knows what to expect. And that is why I strongly disagree with David Shields. What he did with his book was intriguing I must admit. But we need to have a clear, definite line between fiction and non-fiction because otherwise we may start to blur the line between reality and fiction so much that we don’t know what to believe at all anymore. With textbooks and history books, how would we know anything they are saying is true? We will find ourselves not having a clue what to believe anymore.