Absolute Truth in Autobiography: Does It Exist?
Absolute Truth in Autobiography: Does it Exist? The recent discovery of lies and deception in James Frey 's memoir A Million Little Pieces has literary critics and common readers alike looking more closely at nonfiction writers. Some authors, such as Maxine Hong Kingston and Augusten Burroughs have been criticized by those who claim that their so-called memoirs are not completely truthful. Others, such as Jill Ker Conway are so committed to writing the truth down to the last detail that they take pains to do so. These authors undoubtedly hold views about truth that are not unlike those of other autobiographers and literary critics. There seems to be an ongoing debate as to what responsibilities life-writers have to their audience when it comes to the truth as well as the responsibilities they have to the people they include in their book(s). To what degree does the truth need be adhered to? Poet Sharon Olds contends that there is a spectrum of truth.1 Some authors are at the far right of the spectrum, taking a great deal of care when writing nonfiction, while others are far to the right throwing caution to the wind and writing what makes the story more sensational (We can put James Frey over on this side). There are undoubtedly many writers who would fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. Everyone has their own criteria when determining what should and should not be taken into account when writing nonfiction. We must ask ourselves what truth is. Does the definition differ from person to person, or is there an absolute truth? I contend that many nonfiction writers, namely Augusten Burroughs, Jill Ker Conway, Joan Didion, Maxine Hong Kingston, Sara Suleri and Mary Karr all have a certain respect for the truth and do not intend to write in a way to sensationalize their memoirs or get their names on the best sellers list. Although they may have different ways of proving to their audience that what they are writing is the truth, they are all
Bibliography: Karr, Mary. The Liar 's Club. New York: Viking Penguin, 1995. Suleri, Sara. Meatless Days. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. Didion, Joan Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior. New York: Vintage International, 1975. Burroughs, Augusten. Running with Scissors. New York: St. Martin 's Press, 2002. Conway, Jill Ker. The Road from Coorain. New York: Vintage Departures, 1989. Henry, Peaches Marion. Reference and Truth in Autobiography. Dissertation Abstracts International 59 (1999): 23. Jones, L. Gregory. Betting on the truth- Faith matters. Christian Century. Feb. 2004. Smartt, Betty. Telling your own story. Christian Century. Jan. 2005. Lazarre, Jane. A Slight Distortion of the Truth. Feminist Studies 12 (1986): 105-115 Zinsser, William Burroughs, Augusten. Interview with Peter Sciretta. Slashfilm. 18 Oct. 2006. www.slashfilm.com/article.php/20061018augustenburroughsinterview