To: The Mainstream News Media
CC: Oprah, James Frey
From: A Newspaper Reader
Re: The Worm Turns
Wow! What an interesting week this has already turned out to be for the written word. Last week many in the news media pontificated on James Frey's honesty issues and what it means when accuracy takes second fiddle to telling a good story.
Now it seems the New York Times, among others, are having their own problems with labeling truth and fiction and knowing which goes where.
Frey, in case you have been living in a cave, is the guy whose book was originally offered to publishers as a novel but was later published as a memoir. He swore it was true and with the help of being an Oprah book club pick, the book topped the best seller lists.
Only thing is, it wasn't true. Now, this is not the first time by far that a memoir has had accuracy issues. Many have disclaimers about how there may be some mistakes due to the subjective nature of memory and writing about your life.
And then there are wags like Dave Eggers who found his own solution to the problem when writing his memoir, telling readers if they don't like parts of it they can just pretend those are the fictional bits.
Only Frey stuck to his story that it was true up until the Smoking Gun website caught him in his lies and he responded by threatening lawsuits and releasing off-the-record interviews and then accusing the site of ethical dishonesty which is a bit like George Bush calling himself Robin Hood.
Frey was then pressed on the issue by Larry King. (And how sad is it that Larry King, who delivers more softballs than, well, Oprah, is the one who got Frey to really admit his lies?) That is when Frey made the comments which I had fun with last week when he told King "he changed totaled less than 5 percent of the book's content, "within the realm of what's appropriate for a memoir." This after it had become clear that Frey may not have spent time in the jail after all nor done other important events in the book either.
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
One could say Kudos to the publisher for labels Wiesel's book a novel. If there is any real doubt about the veracity of the story, it should be labeled as fiction.
Just as, of course, Frey's book should have been.
Most fiction contains semi-autobiographical elements. So? Why Oprah is insisting that these aren't fiction is puzzling.
Great article, thanks!
2 - Michael J. West
Right on, Scott. At this point Oprah seems almost as dishonest as Frey, doesn't she?
The Washington Post ran quite an op-ed about it yesterday, if you're interested...
3 - GoHah
The Wiesel issue came up years ago when at the bookstore I was working at when a directive came from the head office to move "Night" from Biography to Fiction, causing confusion and consternation with customers. So we took ourselves out of the categorization equation and put it in both sections.
4 - Aaman
great post - Oprah has invoked, obliquely, Godwin's Law on the James Frey situation:)
5 - Scott Butki
Thanks for the compliments.
Do you have a link to that W. Post piece so others - and me - can read it.
6 - Sister Ray
That'll be fun, picking apart a book on the Holocaust to decide how true it is.
Jonathan Franzen is rising in my estimation.
7 - Tan The Man
"Night" is still a really good book.
8 - KYS
I guess the question is, where is the culpability? You purchase a book that you're lead to believe is a true story. Maybe you're stuggling with addiction and you're drawn to what's-his-name's book. Turns out it's a sham. Can you return the book and get your money back?
That's what I think consumers should do, just to teach authors and publishers not to dupe the public. Return the books, and as the bean counters tally the sales losses we can claim another victory for literary integrity.
9 - Scott Butki
Good points. And yes I bet Night is a great book. I think he's competely faultless in all this.
10 - Scott Butki
The irony of the Smoking Gun in all this is that it is a site best known for running mug shots of celebrities. And this all got a bit crazy when someone suggested the site get Frey's mug shot since he spoked about lengthy jail time.
When a job that usually takes 30 minutes began to stretch into days the site grew increasingly interested in what was going on.
Or at least that's how an editor explained the situation here at NPR's On the Media
Here is the transcript:
They had a good package of stories on the issue including comments from book critics and others.
Oh, and did anyone catch Frank McCourt last nite on the Stephen Colbert show?
11 - Scott Butki
This is becoming the story
that just won't die, with this latest one on the status of adding disclaimers to the
book.
It seems to me there are three issues:
His writing of the book
and what happened post-publication.
I'm less bothered by how he wrote it than how things were handled after it came out when
people raised questions about the book and were essentially ignored.
As that Slate piece notes, the publisher knew there were serious questions about
some details of the book, starting with the very first paragraph of the book.
It's one thing for a memoirist to capture the essence of their story in their own
way. It's another to lie about whther questions have been raised about the book.
And if you're going to lie, don't do it to Oprah!
Anyone see the coverage of this last nite on the Daily Show and the Colbert report? Both
were hilarious, especially the former where they contrasted the softball questioning
of reporters of President Bush with Oprah's tough questions for Frey.
12 - Watzitcalled
it shouldn't matter if a book is a memoir or a fiction..."night" is still a very informing piece of work and u shouldn't boycott it for the fact that some parts are untrue...in ur life have u NEVER lied?
13 - Scott Butki
Good point.
14 - scott butki
I've been thinking about this piece lately as I start reading Dave Eggers new book which is labelled both a novel and an autobiography
15 - C. H. Booker
I enjoy any account of cosmic irony descending on the likes of Oprah. It confirms my faith in Divine Justice. But really Mr. Batuki taking cheap shots at President Bush is really a bore. For sheer corruption, hypocrisy and Robinhood posing try Barney Frank. I think his censure by the House for running a male prostitution ring out of his townhouse needs a lifetime achievement award; not to mention putting his then boyfriend in charge of Freddy Mac. That sort of arrogant incompetence led directly to the financial mess we now find ourselves. But you cling to the "Blame Bush for Everything" cult.