How do authors keep from blurring the line between fact and fiction when writing about their personal experiences and family history, which are often coloured by emotion?
American writer James Frey’s bestselling memoir A Million Little Pieces (Anchor) caused a sensation when it became an Oprah book club selection. But it became even more of a cause célèbre when it was revealed that he had fabricated much of it. In the wake of that fiasco, the truthfulness of memoirs is under scrutiny these days.
CBC arts reporter Jeanette Kelly tackled this issue with three writers who took part in a panel discussion at this year’s Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival in Montreal. Canadian publisher and writer Anna Porter chronicled her Hungarian family’s history in The Storyteller: A Memoir of Secrets, Magic and Lies (Douglas & McIntyre). American author Donald Antrim wrote about his strained relationship with his alcoholic mother in The Afterlife: A Memoir (St. Martin's Press). And Toronto-born writer Charles Foran, who has published both fiction and non-fiction, wrote about his childhood in The Story of My Life (so far) (HarperCollins).
These authors reveal how they mixed imagination and memory to get at the “true” story. They also share the feelings of disquiet and even terror that they experienced when reconstructing the past in this way.
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