Suzanne the Student did a presentation on John McPhee and mentioned to the rest of the class that his style is for the most part "Creative Non-Fiction." We all nodded wisely, and when we could, did a little research. Wikipedia is a fairly reliable source, and I quote from it:
Creative nonfiction (also known as literary or narrative nonfiction) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other nonfiction, such as technical writing or journalism, which is also rooted in accurate fact, but is not primarily written in service to its craft. As a genre, creative nonfiction is still relatively young, and is only beginning to be scrutinized with the same critical analysis given to fiction and poetry.
Notable morons who tried to pass off their crap as CNF include
Binjamin Wilkomirski's memoir Fragments: Memories of a Wartime Childhood detailing his experiences as a child survivor of the Holocaust, contained factual inaccuracies.
James Frey's memoir, A Million Little Pieces, contained experiences that turned out to be fabrications.
Margaret Seltzer, whose pen name is Margaret B. Jones, had her book, Love and Consequences, canceled by Riverhead Books " when it was revealed that Seltzer's story of her alleged experiences growing up as a half white, half Native American foster child and Bloods gang member in South Central Los Angeles were fictitious.
And then there is the imbecile who wrote Dutch.
No comments:
Post a Comment