Blog Post # 5

     In my opinion a book has to be about 80-90% true to be considered non-fiction. Just as Laila Lalima  and Seth Greenland stated, we only remember so much of our lives. Some details such as conversations, time, placement, and details that DO NOT ALTER THE OVERALL TRUE PLOTLINE are allowed. Those aren't necessarily lies, just the author's proof of them struggling to remember all the facts. When authors add events that didn't happen or change the way a story ends/begins, they lose all right to call their work a memoir, much less a piece of non-fiction. Any falsified piece of information that can change the overall result of the story or how the readers are supposed to feel about the character or situations should not be allowed within a non-fiction novel. However, as stated before, authors have free reign over specific interactions and the DIALOGUE that took place.


     Half truths are okay... as long as you are writing a piece of fiction or recognize those half truths of having fictional elements. The audience (who invested good money for the book) should have a right to know what they are reading and how much of it is truth. Not only does this ensure the authors audience (those who know its fiction with either abandon that author or continue reading his/her works depending on preference), but it also develops the character of the author. Seth Greenland had a lot of negativity towards James Fry, the author who lied in his book, A Million Little Pieces. If every author puts a little bit of themselves into every novel they write, what does that say about the author if they lie in outrageous ways. Certainly not good for business and puts the author in a negative public eye.


     Books should be labeled. David Shields was wrong in his plea to abolish book labeling. Without labels, how can we as a public know what is real and fake. How can we as readers trust what authors release? Once books loose genre labels, so will all works of literature. State bills and laws will come into question, confessions at court cases, medical notices and all forms of writing. Why question reality when we live in a world where we can pin at least one thing down. If we can't discern what genre a book is, what can we discern?