False memoirs really get under my skin! These supposedly true works of non-fiction undermine the integrity of memoirs in general, making it more difficult to put trust in any memoir read, or to convince patrons that memoirs can be captivating and speak to feelings or experiences that they may be looking to understand or connect with, but most of all, that they can also be true! I would feel terrible if I were to advise a patron to read a memoir only to have it later exposed that such a work was mendacious; doing so would reflect on my integrity, and might make the reader lack confidence in asking for my help in the future.
I can't help but think about why false memoirs have been a consistent problem. Part of me feels that this is due in part to the fact that people want to be entertained. We are used to movies "based on a true story" and we expect a little exciting falsification with the seemingly mundane truths presented in memoirs. I wonder if authors/publishers are forced to consider how well books will sell if they don't spice them up a bit. I also question why these authors don't simply choose to write works of fiction instead of risking their professional, and in many cases, personal reputation to claim non-fiction.
After looking at the Wikipedia list, I haven't read many false memoirs, but I did read Go Ask Alice. However, by the time I read this book it was already re-listed as Fiction. The Fiction rating did not make it any less meaningful or striking. I was still deeply impacted as a youth and can remember still the way that this book made me feel.
I concur with the article "Fake Memoirs", which mentions that public response to fake memoirs is a stronger call for fact-checking. In these scenarios, everyone from the author to the publisher are responsible for putting out a falsified, and in some cases, even plagiarized product.
You draw an interesting comparison between fake memoirs and "based on a true story" movies. During Oscar season I saw several nominated biopics and it was interesting to see what was true and what was embellished. "The Imitation Game," especially, played a little fast and loose with facts (according to people who knew him, Alan Turing was a bit odd but not friendless like he's portrayed in most of the movie). But, it still was a compelling movie that told some essential truths. Books and movies are different mediums, of course, but it's interesting that we're so adamant about getting the facts exactly right in one and OK with some embellishment for dramatic effect in the other.
ReplyDeleteThat is really a good comparison for memoirs to based on true story movies. I was just thinking maybe there needs to be a new genre created called "Based on true events". Just a thought. Anyways, it was nice to see your point of view on this because I didn't feel strongly either way. Your point about the librarian giving the book to a student because it is a memoir then finding out later it is not could create problems. I guess we cannot be at fault if book is printed as a memoir, we would just have to re-catalog the item. Ultimately patrons are responsible for the materials they checkout so they will need to understand that our catalogging practices are just that practices.
ReplyDeleteJenny- exactly! We have totally gotten used to embellishment in our films (with some exceptions of course) but with books we feel so differently. I guess it has something to do with us "trusting" books in a way that we don't with movies... we expect movies to be aggrandized but we expect our books to be clear cut fiction or non-fiction. I think that an excellent compromise is "Based on True Events" Patricia! But you are also right about the ultimate responsibility being with the patron and their choice to read something.
ReplyDelete