2012 conventions 2012 election 2013 session 2013 special election arts arts and culture author ballot measures basketball bomb books boy scouts budget bullying business charlie hales children clackamas climate change coal college courts crime culture culture club democrats drugs economy education environment family film fluoride food gay rights guns handguns health health care health insurance high school history housing immigration international internet kitzhaber law legislature lgbt literary arts living marijuana marriage media medicine mental health military minor parties mohamed mohamud movies music native americans news newspaper obama olympics oregon our town parenting pers photography police politcs politics port portland portland business journal president prevention public safety religion republicans rnc romney rural salem sam adams sandy hook schools science shooting sports suicide supreme court taxes television terrorism theater third parties transportation union university of oregon washington wildfire women

Yes, the publishers are certainly to blame for presenting a memoir that has not been fact-checked. But I also want to toss some blame toward the reading public, whose dependence upon the "this really happened!" factor in what they read drives this type of deception and greed. The publishing industry should deal with this string of scandals by making systematic changes, but this should also lead all of us to examine the decline of reading skills in America. This demand for "true" stories is a symptom of a decline in readers' sophistication. The reading public isn't interested in doing the work of closely examining a complex work of fiction and transfer its portent over to "real life." A true story doesn't require the reader to justify its existence--it happened, and therefore earned its place in the world.

We are predisposed to believe and respond to nonfiction, which can obscure our view of the quality of the writing. When a caller said she connected with work written by survivors of abuse but not work written by outsiders, I believe she carries a strong sense of identity to her reading that puts up a wall with the "outsiders." I doubt her reading would pass a blind test.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
view in context