Comments on: More Publishers Think Readers Are Dumb Asses

By: joe

joe — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:42:09 +0000

It is beyond ridiculous to try and equate a work of narrative non-fiction that relies on composite characters used to hide identities with a made up memoir. And why would you take Drake Bennett’s article any more seriously in terms of the truth than you would Mezrich’s book? Bennett’s article is rife with errors; he blasts mezrich for claiming that the MIT kids smuggled money in hollowed out casts and laptop computers, when there’s nothing like that in the book. He talked to a bunch of MIT kids who weren’t on the team that Jeff Ma played with, who are trying to get famous off of the movie, and took their word as gospel. Then he tried to make a name for himself as a journalist by trashing a much more successful writer. It’s sad to watch the jackals trying to take down a book in their own quest for fame, without fact checking their own sources. But such is the pathetic world of the bloggers.

By: MB

MB — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:31:33 +0000

It came out of academia, I believe. Faction – the melding of fact and fiction sold as pure fiction. A lot of those “based on real events” shows are considered “factional dramas.”

By: Kalen Hughes

Kalen Hughes — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:37:19 +0000

*faction* love that term.

By: janicu

janicu — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:26:23 +0000

I find it baffling that he thinks the “fundamental truth is undiminished”. That gets me the most.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:59:08 +0000

Yes, Ann, it is. Which is why more and more publishers will engage in this deceit – it is monetarily so successful.

By: Ann Bruce

Ann Bruce — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:53:17 +0000

Is the movie 21 based on this book?

By: Ann Bruce

Ann Bruce — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:51:01 +0000

Whatever happened to James Frey? Is he still writing and getting his six figure check?

He has a new book coming out. Pre-sales, unfortunately, are very, very good.

By: katiebabs

katiebabs — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:54:24 +0000

Even Oprah can be fooled and I would assume she would have a staff of fact-checkers.

Whatever happened to James Frey? Is he still writing and getting his six figure check?

By: azteclady

azteclady — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:54:21 +0000

Makes you wonder at those disclaimers of ignorance and innocence by ‘duped’ publishers when they claim they didn’t know that this or that memoir was 100% BS, no?

By: MB

MB — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:28:18 +0000

Since I saw the book being advertised during an episode of Breaking Vegas on the Biography Channel, I figured it was “faction” to begin with since the show told you flat out the names and places were changed to protect the students identities. Since so many readers will buy and enjoy these “faction” books, the publishers will keep putting them out for sale the same as always. It’s just the nature of the game.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 05:31:15 +0000

If it really wasn’t a big deal, publishers would stamp “fiction” on the spine. But they know it makes a difference, exploit that difference, and then dismiss it as nothing, when their actions belie that dismissal. I wish I could say it’s unbelievable, but it’s not to me. When I wrote about this topic at Readers Gab, as it relates to the Frey and Jones books, JMC made a really good point:

Ultimately, for me, the fictionalized memoir (be it Frey's or Jones's) damages the credibility of the author. If I cannot rely upon an author to tell the truth about her/his own life and/or memories, how can I rely upon that author's integrity or honesty when it comes to their other work?

When you have the publisher not only complicit but actively perpetrating the this, the implications exponentially multiply, IMO.