Memoirs

Derma Kaputfrom Possum Grape, Arkansas Associate, 2156 posts	on May 15 2007 Wasn't there just a big controversey over a memoir full of fiction, last fall maybe? If I ever write a memoir, I'm making the whole thing up. Because a memoir should at least be interesting.
Stephan Ansteyfrom Lowell, MA Associate, 6232 posts	inspired from Derma Kaput on May 15 2007 Derma Kaput: Derma, I know thee not well, but well enough my friend to know - thy life is rife with the fodder of story. ----- stephan
Paradiso, Tracey Associate, 1902 posts	on May 15 2007 I've got a poem in the works that alludes to this connundrum. On one hand, the Jane & John Q. Public want fascinating reads. At the same time, many want only precision and exactitude and stripped down facts in memoirs -- and they have the technology and other resources to to hunt that information down. Frankly... ...in some situations one person's fact is another's fiction. I'm not referring to concrete, checkable facts, like was Frey actually in jail or not (he wrote that he was but he wasn't; that to me is plain wrong). ...when former addicts write about their lives, you have to take their stories from where they come: They're ADDICTs. Their memories are likely to be a bit fuzzy. They may or may not have had to lie to fulfill themselves as addicts, and they may not be aware of when they're lying (to themselves and others) when sober. ...when anyone writes about his or her life, you have to take their stories from where they come: they're PEOPLE. Memoirs marry fact with writing skill, the latter of which is an act of creativity. Make of that what you will. ...I've read that the publishing industry is partly to blame. In Frey's case he was given mixed advice as he walked down the publishing path.( I'll have to see if I can track down that aritcle; it was something I read online.) For different reasons, we want real heroes and inspiration. We want to see people's dirty undies and vomit. We want stories of redemption, and we also want stories without resolution. We want all those stories to be well told, engaging, informative. We want to be provoked to think and feel. We want it all. The question is, is the publishing industry set up in such a way to deliver "real goods?" (Do we the readers even know what real goods are anymore?)
Julie herselffrom Here and There 302 posts	on May 15 2007 What is 100% truthful when it comes to one's life? I think there's some grey area in there, where memories carve their own meaning, synapses connected random events, and nuances change with the wisdom of retrospect. Clearly, a total lie is wrong. But what is total truth? When it comes to a memoir, the most interesting aspects to me are how someone has interpreted the events of their life, and I just don't think that's black and white.
Stephan Ansteyfrom Lowell, MA Associate, 6232 posts	inspired from White_Feather on May 16 2007 i am generally of the opinion that everything I say about my life is the absolute truth. I"m the world's foremost authority on me. ----- stephan
Dotdotdotfrom mars 466 posts	on May 21 2007 I was REALLY confused about that whole memior fiasco a while ago. Some guy wrote something that was about his life, but it turned out to be lies. And everyone was pissed. I genuinely don't get it. Who cares? If you read the book and were amused by it in any way, isn't that enough? Just pretend it's fiction, chriiist. You're upset because someone lied about their life?? OH COME OH. Like Derma said, if you want it to be interesting.. come on. I can't write a memior about my life because, as clever as I may be, my life is boring. I will grow up and write lies. It will be awesome.
Dotdotdotfrom mars 466 posts	on May 21 2007 Stephan's comment reminded me of the movie Big Fish.. cause.. yeah, you know what I mean if you've seen it. Lies? or... just interesting ways of interpreting the truth? EH? Great movieee.
Stephan Ansteyfrom Lowell, MA Associate, 6232 posts	inspired from ShannonVeeeee on May 21 2007 ShannonVeeeee: I absolutely love that movie. ----- stephan
Leanne Hansonfrom Just west of the lounge room Associate, 3708 posts	on May 22 2007 Hell of a good movie. And yes -- if you don't know the person you're reading about why on earth would it matter if what they were saying was true or not? Are people worried about looking stupid if they connect? Sheesh. It's still written by a real person. Although, on that -- a couple of years ago here a woman by the name of Helen Demidenko wrote a book called The Hand That Signed The Paper, the story of her Ukrainian father and uncle who, after persecution by Jews under Stalin became members of the Nazi Einsatzgruppen. Although the book appeared anti-Semitic, she claimed that because it was a true perspective as told to her by her family members it was as valid as the Jewish view. It took out the Vogel Prize, which is the richest prize for an unpublished manuscript in Australia. The trouble was threefold; (a) The book is rubbish, poorly written and highly cliched; (b) There are several examples of blatant plagiarism, sometimes whole pages; and (c) her real name is Helen Darville, she's well and truly of English descent and all her family is Australian. The board of the prize were roundly criticised, not so much for falling for a "hoax" (although she'd never really kept her identity a secret, the board had just assumed and not bothered to check), but for awarding a prize based clearly on political reasons rather than literary merit. I guess the moral is, if you're going to lie do it in an entertaining fashion so that when you're found out people will feel a little less like they've been taken for a ride.
Joe R Associate, 313 posts	on May 23 2007 My favorite reference is when Kramer's stories get stolen by Peterman who publishes them as his autobiography. Ok maybe I need to lay off the Seinfeld re-runs!
Stephan Ansteyfrom Lowell, MA Associate, 6232 posts	inspired from Joe R on May 25 2007 Joe R: I am probalby the only person on earth who hasn't seen even half of the seinfield episodes. ----- stephan
Shannon McEwenfrom Canada 463 posts	on May 26 2007 Nope I haven't seen many Seinfeld either. I was wondering, if you have a bunch of short essays about your life, little snapshots persay....is that a memoir? ----- Life is what happens while you wait for great things. Life is what happens while you wait for great things.
Latifa	on Aug. 11 2007 I am very fond of memoirs. they can be very boring, to some, as the on-goings of another's life is hardly worth one's while. especially if the writer's life is of no interest, or if they haven't had a way with words to make their lives seem interesting. then the reader would find the writer's life to be more monotonous and routinic than his, and endeavour to have a bitter outlook on his own personal life! but i could say this... for instance; francis mccourt: i do not know if his memoirs were entirely truthful, but i have found his words to be delicious. even if i were to do something trivial, his words and lines come back to me. the precise description stays in mind. he made the ordinary things seem more delightful to observe than extra-ordinary things. marcel proust: his series are a memoir, originally. he might have added tid-bits, here and there. but the outcome is sensational. it seems, at times, that his occurances are the same as mine. it brings in an idea of how all of our lives are like-- excessively humane.
Hoover Jane penland 2 posts	inspired from ShannonVeeeee on Sep. 4 2008 ShannonVeeeee: What a great way to illustrate this question of story - truth or fiction - that Fish movie - just fabulous way of saying how one man's life was - we each have our lens and that is the truth - that view is the one we can deliver.
Stephan Ansteyfrom Lowell, MA Associate, 6232 posts	inspired from ShannonVeeeee on Sep. 30 2008 i really loved that movie.