Is it necessary to tell the truth when writing a "memoir"?

Frenchie,

I love fiction...and if you're writing a memoir that's filled with it, just label it fiction.  I'd be more apt to read it! 

 Holly

if it is not true, it should be called fiction.

i think once the author is "outed", then people should get their money back.

Just like Milli Vanilli had to give back their Grammy and give money back to anyone who bought their record, once they were discoverd to be a fake.

The problem is the reporter's right. These books would never have been published as fiction. I'm not saying it's right the authors lied. I think it's terrible, but I also think it's a shame so many good memoirs that have been verified as fact are passed over in favor of these outlandish tales of triumph that scream for someone to run a fact check. Instead, the authors earn top $$ in the market place and they're lauded as heroes until the truth comes out. I used to love reading memoirs. All the scandals are certainly coloring my view of the genre.

there was a book that was used for Oprahs book club? it was supposedly a true story about this man (I forget the name of it). 

She was pissed when she found out it was a fake. 

The funny thing is I had NO interest in reading that Frey book till after it came out that it was fake.  Why?  Because I'd heard bits and pieces and didn't buy into it anyway.  But afterwards I read it and actually it's a very good portrait of an addict~ the lies and all are very typical for an addict so in that sense I found value in it.

I agree with Terri~ bummer about GO ASK ALICE.  I didn't know it was fake either.  I still enjoyed it though. 

but when I do, I'm expecting a true account of the author's life as can be best be expressed ....

the excuse that the book would never have been published as a work of fiction .... well, doesn't that sort of say that the book really isn't very good or of interest to readers?  ... to me allowing an author to publish a memoir that is fabricated, is allowing them to profit from their laziness to write a book worthy of publishing mainstream ...... and if the author thinks their work should be read, there are many avenues out there to having it published honestly  .... though some of those avenues may be less profitable or even costly

I don't think an author should profit from their works if they have "falsely" labelled it as "truth" and it's fabrication ....... we reward authors for their remarkable talents to write works of fiction .... they've worked hard to get their books just right and to build a readership ..... allowing those dishonest authors to profit, to me is a slight to those authors that have worked extremely hard

it's almost like the issue of plagarism ... or "rearranging" words written by someone else ......... it's dishonest for one, but it's also laziness on the part of the offender ..... why should they be allowed to profit by that?

so I can understand the "outrage" ..... and if I actually have read works that I had thought to be truth and later found false, I think I'd share that outrage

I think it is about labeling.  But I also think it's about lying.  Lying seems to be an acceptable practice these days.  What harm is there.  If you take the stand in court and swear to god in front of judge and jury and lie does it matter.  There are many who think if it's about an affair, than it shouldn't matter.  Bill Clintin lied.  But he lied about sex to millions of people.  This writer lied about drugs to millions of people.  Why isn't ok to be honest, to expect others to be honest.  Why is it ok to lie.

I think you how I feel much better than I do.

like you I more sad than outraged.  A few years back I lived in big city that after many years with mayor alot people thought of as corrupt a mayor was elected that was thought ot be honest.  After four years he didn't run again because he said he could not be effective.  BUt a local radio host said what I thought was more correct that he couldn't be effective and honest.  That's what I wonder about these publishers.  Are they affraid to be effective and honest?  Or doesn't matter anymore.

I want to live in world where it is.  So I try to live that way. I guess that why I haven't read memoirs lately.  I don't want to be lied to.

I hear about it at some of the writer's groups that I attend called creative non-fiction. Perhaps some of these "memoirs" would fit better there.

that what has happened is society has taught people that truth is relative.  That it can be true for one person and not for another.  While this may apply and actually be true in some cases, it also has given a kind of permission to people to lie. 

And actually, I had classes way back in the day that taught us to do creative nonfiction~ and heck, they call that memoir writing so in that sense it's what has been taught.

As for the Frey book... I guess the shocker for me was that people believed him!  I think people wanted to believe you could overcome a deep addiction through sheer willpower which is what he advocated and the truth was that he was still acting like an addict~ sort of the "dry drunk" syndrome~ in that he kept lying. 

And unfortunately, when it comes to presidential candidates, the problem is that folks are so focused on what they think is "right" that the truth becomes unfocused.  I don't believe a word ANY of them say anymore and I think we'll never know the real truth on a lot of things because it's now all about being "right" and not about being honest.  Hope that makes sense....

Here is my opinion for what it is worth. There is a reason we have fiction and non-fiction. If writing fiction.....write it. A memoir is a biography/autobiography. That is not fiction. I tend to be a pretty black or white type person though.

No. Even true autobiographies are not rue...they aare arranged to say a certain thing, not as they happened. Take St. Augustine's Confessions. This is his autoibiography written from the viewpoint of his conversion. The earlier episodes are not written as they happened but through the perspective of his conversion and also with a point. I took a course on autobiography and it was quite intersting.

I really do not understand the outrage. Even the news is not "the truth". People have been writing fictional memoirs for centuries. I am not talking autobiographies which do claim truth (an are not "the truth") but fictional memoirs. This outrage seems so weird and so recent. Is it a new obsession with targeting books to genres for readers to sell them? Has the public become so dependent of pre-packing that they cannot just read without all these labels? Or maybe the whole outrage is a way to sell books?  A lot of the times I hear these debates in the press, I just feel it's like politicians going on and on in soundbites with very little understanding of anything outside their narrow vision.

Fiction/Non-fiction... in earlier times even chronicles had some fiction in them.  How many times in fiction do we read this is a true story...or how mant times in a romance do we read that this isn't romance and happily-ever-afters aren't guaranteed...but we are reading it in a romance so guess what? 

Yes, in a certain way, I do expect a difference between fiction and
non-fiction .... but I get a lot of fun when an author plays with those
conventions too.  That is what art is about...breaking conventions, adhering to conventions and all shades in between.  It's ok not to like one kind just like a person might prefer abstract art over baroque, romance over suspense, history over fiction.

I should write a my life-story. I'm sure it would be a big seller.  After all, everyone wants to read about a woman obsessed with her 'inner voices', who's practically glued to her computer, leaves it only while she spends time with her family, and then comes back to it again to converse with more 'voices'.  Oh, yes, that's certainly rich material.    Seriously, I'm not a fan of memoirs simply because I prefer fiction.  Fiction is often much more fun than real life, let's face it.  How many memoirs contain vampires, cowboys, or murder mysteries?  Better yet, how many memoirs, unless fictionalized, contain tall, dark sexy hunks that spin the author/reader's world off it's axis?  A biography or an autobiography I can handle, as they're generally written for a reference of sorts.  But a memoir, no thanks.  On the other hand, from what all of you are saying, most memoirs are at least partly fictionalized.  Does that mean I could write a cowboy into my life story, spice it up a little?   H'm...I'll have to think about that.   However, if I had my choice (and I do, of course) I'd rather read and write honest lies fiction - LOL.