“A Million Little Pieces” Challenges Definitio

Newswise — The controversy over James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" challenges the boundaries of the genre of memoir and autobiography, fiction and nonfiction, and gives us an opportunity to clarify the definitions, says Dr. Julia Galbus, associate professor of English at the University of Southern Indiana, and an expert on memoir in American literature.

Galbus says that typically, memoir is distinct from nonfiction, which tends to be more journalistic, because it is understood that the writer's memory of a particular era or event might be distorted. Furthermore, we expect that authors might sometimes add a flourish to their interpretation of events, or recall something imperfectly, or blend several characters for the sake of a story or to protect someone's privacy.

Teachers of literature and creative writing have long been aware that fiction and poetry may be autobiographical, and that conflating a character in a work with an author is often a mistake, but the recent dispute over the facts that were distorted, altered, and misrepresented in "A Million Little Pieces" gives us a chance to talk about the importance and the dangers of being honest in print, not only because many of the details of our lives can be verified and disputed by others, but also because the only way to counteract the culture of misrepresentation which haunts the corporate world and the current situation in Iraq is by attempting to be honest about our personal stories, whether they are published or related less formally. Furthermore, "absolute" truth is sometimes hard to pin down, regardless of the media which is used to transmit it.

Another interesting question for discussion is the peculiar willingness of Frey and his publisher to appear on "Oprah" in order to be publicly chastised. Why did so many people enjoy the spectacle? Why was Frey willing to subject himself to further public humiliation?

"I think people are drawn to memoir, autobiography, and biography because we want to read things that are true and we want models for personal success in a variety of forms," Galbus said. "We want to learn how others have faced serious illness, grief, failure, and catastrophe, as well as monetary success, power and prestige."

When a project strays too far from the truth, even if the author is upfront about it, the audience is rightly skeptical. An example of a less honest memoir is Lauren Slater's "Lying." The author attempts to use a metaphor to replace the truth she is not willing to reveal. Although the narrator reminds the reader that she is stretching the truth and fiddling with genre " the book includes a chapter written as letter to a publisher on how to market the book as memoir or fiction " the story is frustrating because the reader knows almost nothing about what is true when the tale is finished. Galbus is currently on sabbatical to write a book about memoir in American literature. She regularly teaches a senior capstone course in reading and writing autobiography in which students construct a memoir as they approach graduation.