Memoirs: Facts or Fictions?

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I read a cover story in the New York Times Sunday Magazine a few years ago which basically said that "Child Called It" (and subsequent memoirs) were probably very, very exaggerated; also, that the author kept it on the best seller list by using his own money to buy a warehouseful of books himself.
My friend and I were debating whether or not this was accurate, when she said something that really rang very true for me: basically that she hoped it was, in fact, made up, because the idea that a child would actually experience such abuse was just horrible, and she'd prefer to know that it hadn't actually happened.

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If it ever comes out that Tuesdays with Morrie isn't true, I am going to curl up in a ball, throw the covers over my head, and not come out for a week.

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My friend loved Tuesdays with Morrie; it definitely tugs at your heartstrings, but I found it way too depressing for more than one reading....

I happen to love reading memoirs/autobiographies. Here are a few of my favorites (and I'm sure they're factual!):

Autobiography of Agatha Christie--which I've found fascinating and fun to read; she just went off on different tangents whenever she felt like it, putting in her philosophy of life, relationships, whatever.

Enchanted Evening by M.M. Kaye. She left off just when she met the love of her life, which leaves the reader wanting more. (Which would've been really interesting, as according to some obituaries I read of her, it was kind of scandalous for the times--1940's.)

All Rivers Run to the Sea by Elie Wiesel. Sad, of course, but also bittersweet, because of the tenderness in which he remembers his family, especially his little sister. (His experiences in WWII was only a part of the book, actually.)

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There is a book called Fragments written by a "holocaust survivor" that has been proven to be a hoax. I remember my high school history teacher reading us passages from the book when it first came out. One of the passages delt with a baby who was so hungry that it chewed the flesh off its fingers. Can you imangine writing something as horrible as that and then trying to pass it off as true?

[mrpancake]

Oh, Lord, I hated Tuesdays with Morrie. Finding out it were fake would only fuel the semi-irrational hatred (only irrational in the sense that I hate it more than I should) I have for that book. It would also make me feel even more justified in my hatred.

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I agree with you, Jessilc, that's just terrible.
Worst of all, imo, is the doubt it could possibly cast on true Holocaust accounts.

I'm sure Rick Bragg's book All Over But the Shouting is factual, but somehow I don't feel as moved by it now that his reputation as a hardworking, worthy Pulitzer Prize winning reporter has been a little tarnished, along with his quitting/firing? from the NY Times. Kind of like the way I don't think I'd find Russell Crowe's character as compelling in LA Confidential or any of his heroic roles...I guess I like my heroes to stay up on their pedestals, or I lose total respect for them.

[sleepy]

There's an article in today's New York Times (Week in Review section) about truth in memoirs. I've only skimmed the beginning, so I can't really comment on it, but I did catch the author suggesting that perhaps truth in memoirs isn't necessary. The author pointed to the memoirs of people like Ben Franklin and Mark Twain and said that their memoirs read more like tall tales. Then again, argues the author, the people he cited did have major accomplishments in their life, so maybe it's OK. It was interesting. I'll have to read it for real, though.

Anyway, I thought some of you might be interested in it.

[Mugsy]

If it turns out that the Diary of Anne Frank is fictional, I don't know what I'd do.

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I liked A Heartbreaking Work of Staggaring Genius for the most part. Not as much as I'd hoped though. What made me believe it was pretty honest and accurate was ironically what bogged it down for me for several long stretches: No one's life follows a perfect story arc that will suit translation into book form. Thus, in this book where presumably much wasn't going on, he'd fill it with lengthy anecdotes about things such as his work on the hipster magazine.

But like I said, I would have doubted the honesty of the book more if it had perfectly paced highs and lows, etc.

[NappingAthena]

mugsy said:

If it turns out that the Diary of Anne Frank is fictional, I don't know what I'd do.

Oh, its not fictional. Its heavily edited though-names were changed to protect people. Also, Otto Frank edited out certain things, mostly having to do with Anne's blossoming into a sexual woman. Which is something that I'm not shocked over-I'm sure my father would do the same thing.