Oprah Redux: Our Two Cents

[Ed. Note: Scribblista has been usurped today by our bossy big sister, Opinionista, who gets a little uppity has strong feelings about literary stuff. Meanwhile, we're off to get a pedicure.]

UPDATE: We just saw this and all we can say is wow.

Here's the thing: I'm not entirely thrilled with what happened on Oprah and A Million Little Pieces or the likely outcome.

I'm not defending James Frey here. Not at all. I think that at best, he's confused; and at worst, he's a buffoon who tried to puff himself up and continues to profit from it. I found it strange and riveting to watch him get skewered on live TV. If you missed it, here are some video links.

But I firmly believe that writing is full of gray areas and we're the better for it. What bothered me about Oprah was that it seemed to establish a new standard for memoirs and non-fiction. The general public walked away thinking:

1) It is possible to render personal experiences or events in some objective, black & white manner and; 
2) It's a bad thing when this doesn't happen.

[This is where Opinionista starts to get all worked up ....]

One of my all-time favorite books is Speak, Memory, Vladmir Nabakov's autobiography/memoir which can't be easily classified as fiction or non-fiction and deals with how writers present personal experiences with any degree of accuracy. It's a classic, and it disturbs me to know that some shortsighted, literal-minded, Oprah-influenced publisher is more likely now to dismiss a new book written in a similar vein as being too risky or hard to classify and/or market.

Oprah chastised Frey because she was embarrassed by him. She wanted to restore her credibility and that's cool. It is her good name. But she also wound up drawing a clear and frankly unrealistic line between fiction and non-fiction. Sure, it sounds appropriate and easy enough to demand that memoirists "tell the truth." But writers -- fiction and non-fiction alike -- know that's impossible to do.

Writing is a craft, whether it's a newspaper blurb or a literary masterpiece. Any decent writer willfully manipulates and omits the facts and details in order to tell a larger, and hopefully more truthful, story.

[This is where Opinionista starts to rant....]

On top of that, truth [whatever that means] is subjective. Journalism, non-fiction, history, the Oprah Show and -- and this will shock you, even blogs -- invariably reflect the impressions of the reporter, recorder, participants or author. There's no escaping it, and everyone -- including Oprah and her OhMahGawd squad -- benefit by realizing that the line is blurry.

Okay, I'll hop off the soapbox now, but should you ever need to hear me pontificate further, just buy me a beer. I can carry on about this stuff for hours. Or, just rent Rashomon.

[Anyhoo, as you probably know, the Smoking Gun originally broke this story. If you want play-by-play of what went down on Oprah, we recommend Gawker (we stole these photos from them) and the New York Times]

Comments

[casarojo]

Scribblista:

Give me a break. I don't think anyone is saying you can't write about your life and describe it as you remember it. This guy made things up....that is not a memoir (at least not what most of the people who bought the book think a memoir is...that is why there is such an uproar). If you make it up...it's fiction. If it is non-fiction, then it is not something you made up. if you want to extrapolate to make it more interesting, just sell it as fiction (and put on the jacket that it is based on a true story). This does not prevent any writer from writing whatever they want. The discussion is about how you sell it. That is a healthy discussion (even if it makes writers like you shake....plus it is not a new topic of discussion).

[Scribblista]

Casa:

Yes, I am being a little disengenious. I get that he dupped people and they're rightfully pissed off.

Apparently, after failing to sell the book as fiction, Frey "tweaked" it into non-fiction.

But, the whole truth-in-writing thing does touch a nerve for me. Most fiction contains lots of universal truths, while non-fiction is built with subjective, malleable info to support the writer' point.

I've got an old joke: Nonfiction or journalism forces you to lie, while fiction forces you to tell the truth. Writing is blurry that way, and I think it's important to acknowledge that.

Meanwhile, looks Nan Talese and Doubleday definitely know how to sell this: It's No. 1 book on Amazon.

[Jenn]

The only reason this even became such a big deal in the first place is because he lied straight to Oprah's face.
If he'd told everyone that he exaggerated some parts, none of this would have blown up in his face.

[SoOverIt]

I really don't get why this whole thing is such a big deal.

Every book ever written was embellished. BFD. This is not the scaaaaaaaandal everyone things it is. There a million better things to worry about. Pah-lease!

[Mr. Viddy]

The only reason that it became such a big deal was because Oprah found herself in hot water over her call into Larry King supporting James Frey. When the press began to turn on her she had to do a quick about face in order to put herself in a positive light.

[justcurious]

I saw the show and thought that James got a skewering,too. I have to give him some credit for having the huevos to go on Oprah and get nailed the way he did...I did feel kinda sorry for him. But, I definitely agree w/SoOverIt!