Some anonymous someone wrote and said that he/her (said person didn't want to reveal who they were) found it interesting that I've spent the week writing about people I don't care about.
I found that really interesting--and odd.
Aren't all writers interested in matters of ethics in publishing? Aren't you interested in whether what Frey did was considered unethical by the folks in publishing? By readers and other writers? And aren't you interested and curious at the power that Oprah wields?
I am.
And so I write about it. I care about ethics in publishing and I care about how all this will shake down.
The other day I asked a friend--a well-published author, in fact--if she'd been following the Frey fiasco. She said she really hadn't been but from what she ascertained, The Smoking Gun was just trying to start trouble. This was her opinion after reading headlines.
Headlines. We read headlines and we skim.
I suppose I'll hear from that anonymous someone who will tell me again how curious they are that I'm still writing about this topic I care nothing about. I just hope he/her/it says who they are this time, so we can have a dialogue. This is part of the problem, you know--so many of us are afraid to say who we are, express our opinions.
It's easier to remain silent, to not make waves.
Okay, now I must retrieve the L.A. Times from the sidewalk. SFAmylou emailed and said there's an article about Frey. Talk to you later...
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2 comments:
I do think that we get too caught up in the scandals and not caught up enough in the good stuff, you know? I've been following this as well, since I intend to publish memoir one day. When memoir writers are spotlighted for being frauds, it puts the whole genre in a bad light.
I was unimpressed with Oprah. She says it's okay, so suddenly it's okay? I think she was embarrassed. I think she had no other choice but to say "I stand by this book".
I feel so badly for those who read it, and derived hope from it. I think Frey's actions were irresponsible.
And I'm grateful that you've been watchdoggin' it. :) Reading the news isn't enough for me. I love having other's opinions to round out my perspective.
Feithline
I am interested as well. Someone I know read Frey's book and said she was inspired by it.
Is there something wrong with that?
I don't know, I was inspired by Of Mice and Men, the Outlander series, Nancy Drew and many other works of fiction.
There is a big difference between fiction, non fiction and memoirs. In my view, memoirs are neither fiction nor non fiction but a story based on memories. The problem is that most memoir writers really believe that they wrote the truth (depsite the fact that crazy Aunt Enid may swear it's a lie, she didn't grow pot in the garden behind her house) but they write their version of events.
Non fiction on the other hand has this added weight where you'd best be able to prove them thar facts.
Frey's conundrum is that he knew damn well that he was writing fiction based loosely on fact. It should have been labeled fiction and he should have stood up and said no, it's fiction.
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