Random
Memoirs are bullshit
James Frey was forced to sit down and let Oprah tear him to pieces before a studio audience because he committed the greatest crime a writer could commit. He made a bunch of people feel something when they read a novel. They thought they were reading something real. They connected with it and felt something. Turned out it wasn’t precisely real. It was embellished. It was changed to serve the story instead of the reality that the story was based on. All those folks who spend their lives vicariously feeling something through other people’s tragedies were angry that they felt something for a story instead of something that happened in the real world. They pilloried the jerk who went and made them feel something over a work of fiction.
This fetish for “real” is the most embarrassing part of the contemporary reading public. The memoir is, for the most part, just exhibitionists flashing their genitalia at voyeurs. Our Puritan ancestry is likely to blame for all of this.
Let’s hope the memoir dies soon and we can get back to the more important writerly pursuit: making shit up.
“What America needs most is tact.”
(Have I posted this before? Am I a broken record? Sorry.)
Tags: james frey, Oprah
Amen. I fucking hate this trend.
Amen. I fucking hate this trend.
i read his book about 4-5 years ago, right before it was exposed as being embellished. after finding out, i really didn’t care because memoir or not, it made me feel emotions. i wasn’t really reading it as a memoir anyway. i think i’d actually only care about a story being a memoir if it was written by someone i knew. in that case, it wouldn’t simply be a story to me; it would be something that would help me understand the person and all that they’ve been through.
i read his book about 4-5 years ago, right before it was exposed as being embellished. after finding out, i really didn’t care because memoir or not, it made me feel emotions. i wasn’t really reading it as a memoir anyway. i think i’d actually only care about a story being a memoir if it was written by someone i knew. in that case, it wouldn’t simply be a story to me; it would be something that would help me understand the person and all that they’ve been through.
Thank you for weighing in on this timely event! Your point is nuanced and original!
Thank you for weighing in on this timely event! Your point is nuanced and original!
I do not care for memoirs and rarely read them. I think the name is pretentious. I understand why people want to write about their lives, to record their histories, but I also think the genre is becoming meaningless. Anyone can write a memoir about anything. I find it particularly baffling when someone younger than 50 writes a memoir. I really cannot take that seriously. I’m tired of memoirs about overcoming addiction, surviving disease, losing a loved one, etc. These experiences are challenging and individually meaningful but they’re also facts of life. It feels, with the glut of memoirs on the market, that simply making it from one day to the next now merits a book deal.
I do not care for memoirs and rarely read them. I think the name is pretentious. I understand why people want to write about their lives, to record their histories, but I also think the genre is becoming meaningless. Anyone can write a memoir about anything. I find it particularly baffling when someone younger than 50 writes a memoir. I really cannot take that seriously. I’m tired of memoirs about overcoming addiction, surviving disease, losing a loved one, etc. These experiences are challenging and individually meaningful but they’re also facts of life. It feels, with the glut of memoirs on the market, that simply making it from one day to the next now merits a book deal.
Referring to an earlier post about memoirs! Also, timely is bullshit, too.
You were our fattest president. Fuck you for not enforcing the 15th amendment.
Referring to an earlier post about memoirs! Also, timely is bullshit, too.
You were our fattest president. Fuck you for not enforcing the 15th amendment.
I would like to read Roxane Gay’s memoir.
I would like to read Roxane Gay’s memoir.
Unless you are a philosopher, I probably don’t care about your confessions.
Unless you are a philosopher, I probably don’t care about your confessions.
wasn’t the issue that he said it was factual instead of being upfront and honest in the first place?
i am asking. i don’t watch television and i never payed much attention to this story except for what has filtered down from others.
wasn’t that the real issue though? it was only weakness because he hid it from people.
wasn’t the issue that he said it was factual instead of being upfront and honest in the first place?
i am asking. i don’t watch television and i never payed much attention to this story except for what has filtered down from others.
wasn’t that the real issue though? it was only weakness because he hid it from people.
you are a week late on the mean but i knew you had it in you…
you are a week late on the mean but i knew you had it in you…
Yes, that was the issue. Most of the stuff in it was completely made up (like, he spent a night in jail once and in the book it becomes a grueling 3 month ordeal, etc.) but he claimed it was a true memoir.
Yes, that was the issue. Most of the stuff in it was completely made up (like, he spent a night in jail once and in the book it becomes a grueling 3 month ordeal, etc.) but he claimed it was a true memoir.
oh yeah. i think that’s what the issue was. lying about it was stupid. i don’t know why he wanted to classify his novel as a memoir, unless he just wanted attention and for people to feel “sorry” for him.
I’m taking an autobiographical writing class right now and we’ve spent a considerable amount of time talking about this.
The problem with Frey is that in the beginning, he insisted to the publisher that this was a novel. When the publisher said it would work better as a memoir, and that Frey should change it and call it a memoir, that’s when the shit hits the fan for me. He sold out his literary ethics just to make money. Granted, at the time he didn’t know this was going to be selected for Oprah’s Book Club, but that shouldn’t matter. He should have stood by his book for what it was. If he had, then there would’ve been no problem. In my view, he got what was coming.
oh yeah. i think that’s what the issue was. lying about it was stupid. i don’t know why he wanted to classify his novel as a memoir, unless he just wanted attention and for people to feel “sorry” for him.
I’m taking an autobiographical writing class right now and we’ve spent a considerable amount of time talking about this.
The problem with Frey is that in the beginning, he insisted to the publisher that this was a novel. When the publisher said it would work better as a memoir, and that Frey should change it and call it a memoir, that’s when the shit hits the fan for me. He sold out his literary ethics just to make money. Granted, at the time he didn’t know this was going to be selected for Oprah’s Book Club, but that shouldn’t matter. He should have stood by his book for what it was. If he had, then there would’ve been no problem. In my view, he got what was coming.
Well, allegedly he tried to sell it as a novel for awhile and no one would buy it. So he reclassified it as memoir and it got published.
i would concur to a certain extent. i mean if some one is going to publish a “memoir” (not sure why that name holds so much significance right now but whatever), the author should be either famous or have one hell of a story to tell.
the aged 50 thing i disagree with. Most crazy awesome shit happens in the early years of a person’s life, before the mediocrity of domestication occurs, unless you are a serious dude. it’s in that mediocrity that the nostalgia kicks in and spurs some one to write something about their life.
few are serious dudes.
Well, allegedly he tried to sell it as a novel for awhile and no one would buy it. So he reclassified it as memoir and it got published.
i would concur to a certain extent. i mean if some one is going to publish a “memoir” (not sure why that name holds so much significance right now but whatever), the author should be either famous or have one hell of a story to tell.
the aged 50 thing i disagree with. Most crazy awesome shit happens in the early years of a person’s life, before the mediocrity of domestication occurs, unless you are a serious dude. it’s in that mediocrity that the nostalgia kicks in and spurs some one to write something about their life.
few are serious dudes.
Yes and no. I remember watching the interview and being shocked that everyone was standing up and saying not: I believed you, but: I identified with you. I felt something because of you. The stamp on the outside of the book said “memoir,” and there was that betrayal—you marketed this to me in a certain way, and I bought it. But the real betrayal, the one at the bottom of the anger, was that they were “moved” and it was fiction.
Or fictionalized.
In the end, any time you read a book that calls itself memoir, and you find that it has dialogue that carries on for, say, more than a page, you are reading fiction. Unless the author tapes all his conversations.
I read Million Little Pieces and I thought something smelled fishy. But, I cannot lie, I like how he writes. I think he knows how to quite well, in fact. The content may not be the best, but he is a good writer.
Iconoclast!
Yes and no. I remember watching the interview and being shocked that everyone was standing up and saying not: I believed you, but: I identified with you. I felt something because of you. The stamp on the outside of the book said “memoir,” and there was that betrayal—you marketed this to me in a certain way, and I bought it. But the real betrayal, the one at the bottom of the anger, was that they were “moved” and it was fiction.
Or fictionalized.
In the end, any time you read a book that calls itself memoir, and you find that it has dialogue that carries on for, say, more than a page, you are reading fiction. Unless the author tapes all his conversations.
I read Million Little Pieces and I thought something smelled fishy. But, I cannot lie, I like how he writes. I think he knows how to quite well, in fact. The content may not be the best, but he is a good writer.
Iconoclast!
I don’t know if I’d view it quite that way. I think people have different standards. For memoir they dont’ really care if anything is well written, just if it is “true.” I’m sure the same Oprah book club people were proud to admit they were moved by novels she selected.
I agree with this — ethical concerns about how he did or did not sell his story are valid, but I think a separate conversation from what Matthew is talking about. I think the hysteria and feelings of betrayal ultimately seemed to have a lot more to do with our weird fetishistic relationship to ‘truth’ and ‘authenticity’ than with any breach of ethics.
I don’t know if I’d view it quite that way. I think people have different standards. For memoir they dont’ really care if anything is well written, just if it is “true.” I’m sure the same Oprah book club people were proud to admit they were moved by novels she selected.
I agree with this — ethical concerns about how he did or did not sell his story are valid, but I think a separate conversation from what Matthew is talking about. I think the hysteria and feelings of betrayal ultimately seemed to have a lot more to do with our weird fetishistic relationship to ‘truth’ and ‘authenticity’ than with any breach of ethics.
hmmm.
the real issue seems to be the monolithic system of publishing. if he wrote the novel as a novel I don’t really see him at fault.
his words are true and earnest at the time of writing.
it sounds like he got hung out to dry by his publisher and publicly flogged by oprah.
chalk one up for the school of blunt honesty.
hmmm.
the real issue seems to be the monolithic system of publishing. if he wrote the novel as a novel I don’t really see him at fault.
his words are true and earnest at the time of writing.
it sounds like he got hung out to dry by his publisher and publicly flogged by oprah.
chalk one up for the school of blunt honesty.
ah. that’s not the way to go about doing it, then. i guess it is if you want instant fame/money, but the fame and money is ephemeral. it is in almost any instance, but in his case, it was ephemeral AND he was living a lie.
ah. that’s not the way to go about doing it, then. i guess it is if you want instant fame/money, but the fame and money is ephemeral. it is in almost any instance, but in his case, it was ephemeral AND he was living a lie.
why do you think that is Tim? I have a theory but i’m curious to hear your mind before i say anything.
why do you think “north americans(?)” view truth and authenticity in such manner?
why do you think that is Tim? I have a theory but i’m curious to hear your mind before i say anything.
why do you think “north americans(?)” view truth and authenticity in such manner?
So todays posts about Memoir’s. Are they strictly political writings or what? Can Henry Miller’s Tropic Of Cancer, Capricorn be considered a memoir?
So todays posts about Memoir’s. Are they strictly political writings or what? Can Henry Miller’s Tropic Of Cancer, Capricorn be considered a memoir?
I am with you all the way. Frey’s book wasn’t very good, but real or not is beside the point
I am with you all the way. Frey’s book wasn’t very good, but real or not is beside the point
What about O’Brien, “How to tell a true war story?”
*cough*Stephen Elliott*cough*
The problem with the book is that it’s terrible writing. I remember when everyone was reading it–each foisted it upon me in their turn, and I just couldn’t imagine spending any amount of time in that writer’s company. People put up with bad writing from a meoirist for the same reason they put up with bad acting in a porn film. The artistry is not the issue because the work in question does not aspire to the condition of art. It’s a product, and its status as a book or a film is a function of simply efficiency–optimal format for delivery. If Frey could have produced a mock-umentary instead, he would have. If the pornographer could sell you the DVD without the big orgy scene at the end, he’d happily fire those other 3 guys.
In any case, the other major similarity between the gross-out memoir and the porn flick is that both use the premise of a “story” as a way of lending some minimal shape to what is essentially an anthology of money shots. In the addiction genre, instead of fuck-scenes, you get equally prurient depictions of personal debasement (“I can’t believe he DID that”) that make the audience feel smugly superior to the author but also–and this is important–good about themselves for being the kind of “brave” and “compassionate” reader who is willing to “bear witness” to such tragedy. As with porn, watching someone else do it is titillating on the first level, but on the deeper level, their excess is acting as a kind of permission for your own prudery. You participate by watching, and therefore excused from having to actually attempt.
When you reveal–as Frey did–that none of it was true, you force the audience to experience not just the hurt and anger at having been defrauded by the “trusted” author, but the deeper fraud that the readership was perpetrating against itself in reading the book in the first place. And they really, really hate being made to think about those things, which is why they get so angry.
What about O’Brien, “How to tell a true war story?”
*cough*Stephen Elliott*cough*
The problem with the book is that it’s terrible writing. I remember when everyone was reading it–each foisted it upon me in their turn, and I just couldn’t imagine spending any amount of time in that writer’s company. People put up with bad writing from a meoirist for the same reason they put up with bad acting in a porn film. The artistry is not the issue because the work in question does not aspire to the condition of art. It’s a product, and its status as a book or a film is a function of simply efficiency–optimal format for delivery. If Frey could have produced a mock-umentary instead, he would have. If the pornographer could sell you the DVD without the big orgy scene at the end, he’d happily fire those other 3 guys.
In any case, the other major similarity between the gross-out memoir and the porn flick is that both use the premise of a “story” as a way of lending some minimal shape to what is essentially an anthology of money shots. In the addiction genre, instead of fuck-scenes, you get equally prurient depictions of personal debasement (“I can’t believe he DID that”) that make the audience feel smugly superior to the author but also–and this is important–good about themselves for being the kind of “brave” and “compassionate” reader who is willing to “bear witness” to such tragedy. As with porn, watching someone else do it is titillating on the first level, but on the deeper level, their excess is acting as a kind of permission for your own prudery. You participate by watching, and therefore excused from having to actually attempt.
When you reveal–as Frey did–that none of it was true, you force the audience to experience not just the hurt and anger at having been defrauded by the “trusted” author, but the deeper fraud that the readership was perpetrating against itself in reading the book in the first place. And they really, really hate being made to think about those things, which is why they get so angry.
Eesh- first sentence “the problem with the book IF considered AS a book…”
haha, at first glance i thought you wrote “fucking hate this thread,” like prophetic irony of what’s to come.
Eesh- first sentence “the problem with the book IF considered AS a book…”
haha, at first glance i thought you wrote “fucking hate this thread,” like prophetic irony of what’s to come.
Not sure why that matters. call it truth, call it fiction. What matters is if it effects the reader in some way
Not sure why that matters. call it truth, call it fiction. What matters is if it effects the reader in some way
There are no true stories. I want to write a story about how all of the stories I write aRe lies, even when I want to tell the truth
There are no true stories. I want to write a story about how all of the stories I write aRe lies, even when I want to tell the truth
i don’t love memoirs in general, but there are some great ones
usually it is when they do something other than simply talk about their life, though of course this is what a lot of fiction does too, in a different mode. so, for it to be a memoir, and to do that, it seems to need something that feels suited to that kind of mode, while also still being real?
any
Nick Flynn’s Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
John D’Agata’s Halls of Fame has some memoir type stuff in it
the Barthelme brothers’ gambling book is fun and good, Double Down
i liked Zak Sabbath’s We Did Porn, which was pretty much straight memoir with some ranting
Tom Bissell’s Chasing the Sea
Joe Brainard’s I Remember could be a called a memoir of a certain mode
Gordon Lish’s My Romance even is kind of a memoir, but it’s called a novel
all of these are kind of spins on the thing that is called a memoir
i have never seen simmons say fuck anything so directly
i don’t love memoirs in general, but there are some great ones
usually it is when they do something other than simply talk about their life, though of course this is what a lot of fiction does too, in a different mode. so, for it to be a memoir, and to do that, it seems to need something that feels suited to that kind of mode, while also still being real?
any
Nick Flynn’s Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
John D’Agata’s Halls of Fame has some memoir type stuff in it
the Barthelme brothers’ gambling book is fun and good, Double Down
i liked Zak Sabbath’s We Did Porn, which was pretty much straight memoir with some ranting
Tom Bissell’s Chasing the Sea
Joe Brainard’s I Remember could be a called a memoir of a certain mode
Gordon Lish’s My Romance even is kind of a memoir, but it’s called a novel
all of these are kind of spins on the thing that is called a memoir
i have never seen simmons say fuck anything so directly
“only fools and ex presidents write memoirs”
“only fools and ex presidents write memoirs”
Effect is influenced by whether it is true or false (or perceived as such).
Here, here! I agree completely.
But why are we discussing this now? Is Frey trying to sell something else?
Effect is influenced by whether it is true or false (or perceived as such).
Here, here! I agree completely.
But why are we discussing this now? Is Frey trying to sell something else?
i feel like i don’t know how to talk anymore
wait a minute, what year is this?
matthew?
i feel like i don’t know how to talk anymore
wait a minute, what year is this?
matthew?
I cop to a certain amount of hyperbole to make the point. I love Chasing the Sea, too—though might call that and The Father of All Things travelogue—and Jarhead by Anthony Swofford. Quite a few other books, too. Positively Fifth Street describes real events in the authors life and combines it with reportage.
Mostly I think I’m saying fuck that guy who thinks fiction is dead because memoir is better at telling a story.
I cop to a certain amount of hyperbole to make the point. I love Chasing the Sea, too—though might call that and The Father of All Things travelogue—and Jarhead by Anthony Swofford. Quite a few other books, too. Positively Fifth Street describes real events in the authors life and combines it with reportage.
Mostly I think I’m saying fuck that guy who thinks fiction is dead because memoir is better at telling a story.
I agree. He is a terrible writer. And what’s worse, he is a bad liar. Anyone with half a working bs detector could sniff his shit after about 20 pages.
I agree. He is a terrible writer. And what’s worse, he is a bad liar. Anyone with half a working bs detector could sniff his shit after about 20 pages.
Point taken here. Second point, anyway. I know plenty of readers—good readers, people I trust—who liked the book as a piece of writing. I’m less interested in style questions—and really, not as interested in the specifics of this case—than I am with the way I perceived the reaction.
Setting aside the litigious American “I deserve to get exactly what was advertised” mindset, a bunch of people got mad at feeling something they read when they found that what they read wasn’t “real.” My take was that they identified, or wanted to identify—or maybe it’s sympathize—with the narrator. The voyeurism then being a sort of participant in the character’s pain.
You think it was, instead, a voyeurism based on people’s boundaries? Embarrassment?
Point taken here. Second point, anyway. I know plenty of readers—good readers, people I trust—who liked the book as a piece of writing. I’m less interested in style questions—and really, not as interested in the specifics of this case—than I am with the way I perceived the reaction.
Setting aside the litigious American “I deserve to get exactly what was advertised” mindset, a bunch of people got mad at feeling something they read when they found that what they read wasn’t “real.” My take was that they identified, or wanted to identify—or maybe it’s sympathize—with the narrator. The voyeurism then being a sort of participant in the character’s pain.
You think it was, instead, a voyeurism based on people’s boundaries? Embarrassment?
i agree with the latter, and the former often too. i still felt in 2004 reading this post. which was kind of awesome.
well said.
i agree with the latter, and the former often too. i still felt in 2004 reading this post. which was kind of awesome.
well said.
I would suppose there would be some pressure to publish those books as memoir today, yes? Seems that the need to clarify those differences is a very contemporary need.
I would suppose there would be some pressure to publish those books as memoir today, yes? Seems that the need to clarify those differences is a very contemporary need.
yes, yes. i know. old topic. yagoda made me revisit it.
and, heck, it may not be timely, but i can’t think of a time when i’ve gotten this many responses this quickly.
totally posting about those “new harry potter” books next, baby.
yes, yes. i know. old topic. yagoda made me revisit it.
and, heck, it may not be timely, but i can’t think of a time when i’ve gotten this many responses this quickly.
totally posting about those “new harry potter” books next, baby.
haha.
you are fun to beaver
haha.
you are fun to beaver
fiction lies to tell the truth. “reality” is a farce, as evidenced by american idol.
fiction lies to tell the truth. “reality” is a farce, as evidenced by american idol.
Who is that guy?
Who is that guy?
Something David Shields pointed out in a class I took with him on the book Speedboat by Renata Adler. (Speedboat is a novel, and if you don’t know it, read it.) Read the book. Then read the bio at the back of the book. The book is a novel. The novel follows almost precisely the journey of the author described in the bio.
listen
matthew simmons has become unstuck in time.
Something David Shields pointed out in a class I took with him on the book Speedboat by Renata Adler. (Speedboat is a novel, and if you don’t know it, read it.) Read the book. Then read the bio at the back of the book. The book is a novel. The novel follows almost precisely the journey of the author described in the bio.
listen
matthew simmons has become unstuck in time.
This seems slightly off-topic, doesn’t it?
I’m just saying: write more fucking novels.
This seems slightly off-topic, doesn’t it?
I’m just saying: write more fucking novels.
AND he acted like a total ass on top of everything else.
AND he acted like a total ass on top of everything else.
I spent 6 years (2 seriously) writing about my own life. I even got a degree in it. I ultimately jumped ship and started writing fiction when I realized that getting a memior published has nothing to do with art and everything to do with relentlessly whoring out some central tragedy in your life, which fate has sadly deprived me of.
Live and learn, I guess.
I spent 6 years (2 seriously) writing about my own life. I even got a degree in it. I ultimately jumped ship and started writing fiction when I realized that getting a memior published has nothing to do with art and everything to do with relentlessly whoring out some central tragedy in your life, which fate has sadly deprived me of.
Live and learn, I guess.
Note that I never learned how to spell memoir, either.
Note that I never learned how to spell memoir, either.
Yes. i read million little pieces just a few months ago, way after the oprah shit and the south park episode and all that. you could tell it was fiction, written with way too much clarity and composure for someone that fucked up. but i thought it was great. it was a tour de force (HA! i hate that phrase) and very poignant (another stupid phrase.) but it was good. i read tucker max’s memoir of being an idiot buffoon. it was good for about 3 stories at the most and then it falls way flat. i had a good conclusion as to why fiction was ultimately more powerful but i lost it. sorry.
Yes. i read million little pieces just a few months ago, way after the oprah shit and the south park episode and all that. you could tell it was fiction, written with way too much clarity and composure for someone that fucked up. but i thought it was great. it was a tour de force (HA! i hate that phrase) and very poignant (another stupid phrase.) but it was good. i read tucker max’s memoir of being an idiot buffoon. it was good for about 3 stories at the most and then it falls way flat. i had a good conclusion as to why fiction was ultimately more powerful but i lost it. sorry.
my favorite memoir is frederick douglas’s (douglas’)
my favorite memoir is frederick douglas’s (douglas’)
well said
I think a lot of the backlash against Frey wasn’t merely because people were “moved” by something that turned out to be fictional, though that certainly plays apart. Rather, if you look at it through the lens of addiction and recovery, Frey presented his work as a truthful account of overcoming serious addictions all the while thumbing his nose at twelve-step recovery programs. The book was all about self-empowerment and overcoming addiction through one’s own willpower, not relying on any group therapy or counselors. I think that aspect of it really attracted a lot of readers who viewed it as a self-help manual, an alternative to twelve-step programs that rely on a “higher power”.
When it turned out to be bullshit, I think people felt betrayed not merely because it was fictional, but because it meant that his method didn’t work. It that sense, then, it’s less about being told an emotional story, believing it, and having it turn out to be completely made up, and more about being given a treasure map that turns out to be some bullshit scam.
That being said, _A Million Little Pieces_ was one of the fucking worst books I’ve ever read. Simply put, if you didn’t know it was complete fiction, then you are moron. But, as others have said, Americans do have this hard-on for authenticity.
well said
I think a lot of the backlash against Frey wasn’t merely because people were “moved” by something that turned out to be fictional, though that certainly plays apart. Rather, if you look at it through the lens of addiction and recovery, Frey presented his work as a truthful account of overcoming serious addictions all the while thumbing his nose at twelve-step recovery programs. The book was all about self-empowerment and overcoming addiction through one’s own willpower, not relying on any group therapy or counselors. I think that aspect of it really attracted a lot of readers who viewed it as a self-help manual, an alternative to twelve-step programs that rely on a “higher power”.
When it turned out to be bullshit, I think people felt betrayed not merely because it was fictional, but because it meant that his method didn’t work. It that sense, then, it’s less about being told an emotional story, believing it, and having it turn out to be completely made up, and more about being given a treasure map that turns out to be some bullshit scam.
That being said, _A Million Little Pieces_ was one of the fucking worst books I’ve ever read. Simply put, if you didn’t know it was complete fiction, then you are moron. But, as others have said, Americans do have this hard-on for authenticity.
Yes, it is one thing to say “Look, you can do this, I did it myself” and another to say “Look, you can do this, some fictional character did it in a novel!”
i have never read that. is it chock full of personal debasement for me to feel smugly amused about?
Yes, it is one thing to say “Look, you can do this, I did it myself” and another to say “Look, you can do this, some fictional character did it in a novel!”
i have never read that. is it chock full of personal debasement for me to feel smugly amused about?
i like writing “memoir” and saying it in my head.
i like writing “memoir” and saying it in my head.
James Frey was at a spelling bee I went to on Monday. He can’t spell “blazonry.”
James Frey was at a spelling bee I went to on Monday. He can’t spell “blazonry.”
i like the way you’ve framed this, Matthew. this particular fetish runs so deep. i think it’s related to the fetish of the natural. people invest “natural” with this kind of moral purity, or at least probity, whether it comes to natural food, the “natural” way the body is “supposed” to function, acting “natural” in social settings. but either nothing is natural anymore, because humans have manipulated this whole earth, or else nothing is unnatural in the first place–it all comes from the same materials, however we choose to manipulate those materials. similarly, whatever occurs in art comes from some true place, or else everything comes from artifice–either way, distinguishing truth from artifice is an illegitimate act.
i like the way you’ve framed this, Matthew. this particular fetish runs so deep. i think it’s related to the fetish of the natural. people invest “natural” with this kind of moral purity, or at least probity, whether it comes to natural food, the “natural” way the body is “supposed” to function, acting “natural” in social settings. but either nothing is natural anymore, because humans have manipulated this whole earth, or else nothing is unnatural in the first place–it all comes from the same materials, however we choose to manipulate those materials. similarly, whatever occurs in art comes from some true place, or else everything comes from artifice–either way, distinguishing truth from artifice is an illegitimate act.
Oh hmm. Interesting. So this book is just about being an addict and becoming straight again?
sounds boring unless the writing is good.
people should read tony o’neil.
it sounds like all the shit they are looking for can be found in his writing.
Oh hmm. Interesting. So this book is just about being an addict and becoming straight again?
sounds boring unless the writing is good.
people should read tony o’neil.
it sounds like all the shit they are looking for can be found in his writing.
i think this has a lot to do with the fetish we are talking about.
i think this has a lot to do with the fetish we are talking about.
the antennae were interfering with him
the antennae were interfering with him
I guess I picked the wrong time to write a memoir (and I’m not yet 50). Sorry, gang.
I guess I picked the wrong time to write a memoir (and I’m not yet 50). Sorry, gang.
Kevin, I am really looking forward to reading your memoir.
Kevin, I am really looking forward to reading your memoir.
seconded
seconded
god simmons. what a jerk.
god simmons. what a jerk.
i don’t remember his style of writing. it’s been awhile since i read it. it also didn’t help that i was 14 and just started exploring literature.
i just remember that i liked it at the time. and that he was in a mental hospital and liked a girl who later committed suicide. somethingggg like that.
i don’t remember his style of writing. it’s been awhile since i read it. it also didn’t help that i was 14 and just started exploring literature.
i just remember that i liked it at the time. and that he was in a mental hospital and liked a girl who later committed suicide. somethingggg like that.
it’s all words, words, words. in the end.
salter has a good one. Burning the Days.
and that president fellow’s was none too bad.
that scene in hem’s Moveable Feast where he nurses a drunk fitzgerald back from the brink is some serious funny, true or not.
it’s all words, words, words. in the end.
salter has a good one. Burning the Days.
and that president fellow’s was none too bad.
that scene in hem’s Moveable Feast where he nurses a drunk fitzgerald back from the brink is some serious funny, true or not.
You frame that frame, Amy! I cast my vote for your third option, that “nothing is unnatural in the first place.” Neon, aflicker in a sign flashing “XXX” or “Michelob” or whatever, looks like the most artificial thing there is, yet it’s a gas on the periodic table. But I think there’s something in us that wants the comfort of the “natural.” We get anxious at too much artifice, even though anxiousness, too, is natural at some level. I know just seeing that little organic label on fruit chills me out big time.
Maybe there will be a regulatory board to certify memoirs. Conventional memoirs may have been treated with embellishment, the events manipulated and tweaked and fabricated when necessary, but organic memoirs will be 100% pure in their representations. They will also be edible.
You frame that frame, Amy! I cast my vote for your third option, that “nothing is unnatural in the first place.” Neon, aflicker in a sign flashing “XXX” or “Michelob” or whatever, looks like the most artificial thing there is, yet it’s a gas on the periodic table. But I think there’s something in us that wants the comfort of the “natural.” We get anxious at too much artifice, even though anxiousness, too, is natural at some level. I know just seeing that little organic label on fruit chills me out big time.
Maybe there will be a regulatory board to certify memoirs. Conventional memoirs may have been treated with embellishment, the events manipulated and tweaked and fabricated when necessary, but organic memoirs will be 100% pure in their representations. They will also be edible.
Yeah, Matthew. You’re just jealous because that memoir you wrote about you and your cat was rejected by all the major houses.
Actually, I was just being mopey so someone would pat me on the back and say, “There, there. It’ll all work out.”
I mean, I understand that people get sick of stuff. People who ONLY write memoir can be hard to take. At least Mary Karr writes poetry too. At least Jonathan Ames writes great fiction too. And yeah, there’s N Flynn, S Elliott, and Harry Crews ‘A Childhood.’
Yeah, Matthew. You’re just jealous because that memoir you wrote about you and your cat was rejected by all the major houses.
Actually, I was just being mopey so someone would pat me on the back and say, “There, there. It’ll all work out.”
I mean, I understand that people get sick of stuff. People who ONLY write memoir can be hard to take. At least Mary Karr writes poetry too. At least Jonathan Ames writes great fiction too. And yeah, there’s N Flynn, S Elliott, and Harry Crews ‘A Childhood.’
oh, baby. you know i love you and love your book. you are forever exempt from my rants.
oh, baby. you know i love you and love your book. you are forever exempt from my rants.
now i will never be mean again. you made me feel like a bastard.
now i will never be mean again. you made me feel like a bastard.
There is range in memoir, just like there is range in fiction. I could take some hideous example of fiction — some puerile romance — and hold it up and “Look! Look what is being written in the name of fiction!” But I wouldn’t do that. Because that would be retarded. So I’m not sure why you are doing that for memoir.
There are some totally crap ones, yes. Celeb memoirs and “look at my horrible experience” memoirs. But there are also some very fine works of art within the genre. For starters
Frank Conroy, Stop-Time.
Mary Karr, Liar’s Club
A Movable Feast, anyone?
Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard
Duke of Deception by Geoffry Wolff
This Boy’s Life by his brother, Tobias
Are you trying to tell me that these writers didn’t have “important writerly pursuit”? That their work “does not aspire to the condition of art”? That people only care about it because its true? Srsly?
There is range in memoir, just like there is range in fiction. I could take some hideous example of fiction — some puerile romance — and hold it up and “Look! Look what is being written in the name of fiction!” But I wouldn’t do that. Because that would be retarded. So I’m not sure why you are doing that for memoir.
There are some totally crap ones, yes. Celeb memoirs and “look at my horrible experience” memoirs. But there are also some very fine works of art within the genre. For starters
Frank Conroy, Stop-Time.
Mary Karr, Liar’s Club
A Movable Feast, anyone?
Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard
Duke of Deception by Geoffry Wolff
This Boy’s Life by his brother, Tobias
Are you trying to tell me that these writers didn’t have “important writerly pursuit”? That their work “does not aspire to the condition of art”? That people only care about it because its true? Srsly?
i read this today about Mary Karr’s new memoir: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2009-11-05-karr05_ST_N.htm
sounds boring, but there was one part i liked: Why publish it?
Karr laughs. “For the money. I’m a writer. It’s what I do.”
i read this today about Mary Karr’s new memoir: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2009-11-05-karr05_ST_N.htm
sounds boring, but there was one part i liked: Why publish it?
Karr laughs. “For the money. I’m a writer. It’s what I do.”