Blog #5

•         How true does a book have to be in your mind to be considered non-fiction?   Why?

 

I think that for a book to be considered non-fiction 99% of the facts have to be true. As Seth Greenland said if the things within a memoir aren't true then the book is not really a memoir. I think that it's important for non-fiction books to follow this guidelines because people may relate to the stories and see the struggles that people in memoirs have overcome, but if these things were made up it makes that relationship with the reader fake and may disappoint the reader into not being able to relate.

•         Are half-truths okay if it’s still a good story? Does it matter if Frey or other memoirists bent the truth to tell their stories?

I don't think that half truths are ok, if you're going to write a memoir stick to the guidelines. If not then write a fiction books. Authors like Frey that make up facts within their books and call them a memoir really take away from other memoirs credibility and may damage the genre for the rest of the authors who wrote authentic, factual memoirs. Of course I think that writers should have a little flexibility with conversations they can't remember word for word, but if they're big events that they make up that's when I don't think it's ok.

•         Is David Shields right?  Do we need lines between genres—do we need to label something fiction or non-fiction?  Why does it matter?

 

I think we do need to label things fiction and non-fiction, I agree with Aimee Bender when she said that it's exciting what people are able to do with the mixing of genres but if the authors do this I think they need to let their readers know. My main problem with blurring the lines of genres is that the readers lose a sense of trust with their authors, because they don't know whether to think that the events are true events or if they are just figments of imagination. I think it is very important for the author to be faithful to his readers and say, 'hey guys in this piece I wrote it is a story of fiction and non-fiction' instead of lying to them saying it is all non-fiction like Frey did. I know I would have a lot more respect for an author and would want to support them more if they were honest to me instead of lying, this should allow authors to play with the genre lines while still remaining faithful to their readers.