memoirs

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?)