Blog 8

I believe that a memoir needs to be 98% true. A memoir is meant to be a true story but at some point it can get boring and loose a readers intrest. When a writer throws in a few untue details it is meant to make the book more interesting not to trick you into thinking that it was true. If it has a true main plot than it isnt a big deal because the plurality of the book is true. If a book is half true than it could still be a good book it would just be a different genre. I dont think it is fair for an author to lie about the genre of their book just to get published. And authors like Frey told mostly the truth and I think it would have been alright for him to bend the truth on the some of the scenes but if some of the things that he lied about was significant than that changes a main area of the plot which makes it a bigger deal. But other than that authors like him are just trying to tell a good story that people would read. Obviously his book was good if it got published and made Oprah's book club, but the only reason he got that far was because he claimed that his book was a memoir. Im not encouraging lying in a true story but the reason for him doing it makes sense. I think David Shields is right, I dont think that labels are a big deal they are kind of old fashioned a story is a story, true or not. It is going to be good or bad it shouldnt depend on the genre it should be based on the actual writing techniques and the plot of the story.