I
This post is dedicated to the members of my book club who had a riveting discussion about this book just last week. In particular, this is dedicated to Mary.
Before there was James Frey.
Before there was "the interview on Larry King Live".
Before there was Larry King saying his show was going to "run over" the top of the hour because Oprah was on the phone.
Before there was Oprah saying, "I've been trying to call in all hour but the line's been busy,"
there was Clifford Irving on 60 minutes.
It's a classic. It was Superbowl Sunday 1972 and for the previous week or so the media had been consumed with whether or not Irving ,who had written a biography of Howard Hughes, had "faked it".
CBS News.Com has highlights of that interview in a post they call: "Liar, Liar".
'Less than two months after the CBS News interview, Irving admitted that his book was a hoax. Time magazine dubbed him "Con Man of the Year." And CBS News, too, gave him an award worthy of his performance.
On March 19, 1972, 60 Minutes nominated Irving as best actor of the year in a starring role.
Irving had to pay back the $765,000 advance to his publisher. He was also convicted of fraud and served 14 months in federal prison.
Recently Mike Wallace interviewed Irving again after 27 years and admitted he couldn't figure whether the author had been telling the truth. "
If you want to check up on Clifford Irving, Answers.com has his biography. He's listed as author/fraud.Frey will in all likelihood not be branded as author/fraud ( unless we find out he really didn't go to treatment and has been drinking heavily for the past 13 years).
What a difference 36 years make. Yes, there's been a bru-ha-ha this week about Frey and his assertion of spending time in jail. But in the end, it won't be Frey who takes the real hit on this, it will be the publishing industry. As they should. That's because of a telling interchange between King and Frey regarding how Frey orginally intended to market the book.
King said,"Is it true that you originally shopped this around as a work of fiction and it was rejected 17 times."
Frey confirmed that was true.
King then asked if Frey would have been comfortable if the book had been published as a work of fiction.
Frey said he would have.
Whoa! Have I been out of the loop. I didn't know that "memoir" was a new literary genre otherwise known as "creative autobiography." Silly me, I thought it was just a shorter, hipper way of saying autobiography. Guess not.
Here is Writer's Digest explanation of the difference.
"...autobiography focuses on the writer's entire life, whereas memoir focuses on a certain aspect of it.
As Susan Carol Hauser further explains in You Can Write a Memoir, autobiography focuses on the chronology and timeline of a life. Memoir is concerned with themes that occur within that chronology.
So, putting on my Nancy Drew hat, here's what I think could have happened.
DISCLAIMER: The next section of this post is pure conjecture.
What I am about to say is not based on any facts. It's not based on any personal experience with publishing houses. It's simply based on a hunch and probably too much time watching sitcoms and movies.
Frey wanted to get his book published. The publishing houses didn't think it was "compelling enough as fiction."
So they go to Frey and say, " we want this book but only as a memoir.It's a powerful story when it's true story."
Frey ," Well most of it is true but I have changed some facts and you know I didn't really spend three months in prison ,and I wasn't in a drunken stupor every day. How could I have possibly graduated from college if I was as wasted as I say in this book?"
Publisher, " Well prison is a metaphor for what you were personally going through, isn't it?
Frey, " Yeah, that's the ticket. I was in prison."
Frey was just a Desperate Author who wanted to get his book published. There are now just four publishing houses ( I learned this last week during my podcast interview with Joni Cole who, unlike Frey is not making millions from her work ).
So, it was their way or the highway. Frey chose their way.What would have happened if Frey had picked up his manuscript and simply said, "Thanks, but no thanks."
Would the publisher's have budged?
Probably not. Frey had no power at the time.
So it was either agree to the way the game is played, or have a powerful manuscript collecting dust.
I know some folks who would have walked away. Joni Cole would have. Nancy White would have. I would like to think I would, not so sure.
What the publishing house did is not that different from what the pharmaceuticals do when they fail to disclose negative health implications associated with drugs or medical devices ( Vioxx, Guidant). Or the recent disclosure that medical journals use ghost writers paid by pharmaceuticals for "scientific articles" bylined by world renowned physicians.
Where is that outrage on that one? Didn't seem to catch the media's fancy . That's a shame. Having pharmaceutical paid freelancers ghost writing for doctors alleged research is life and death stuff. It's just not very sexy.
Businesses driven by the bottom line and Wall Street expectations now treat the truth as a mere statistical factor for predicating success. If its 98% safe, then it's good enough to go to market( without telling people about that 2% risk)
It it has 95% true facts, then that's good enough to publish as a memoir ( why have a disclaimer to make people wonder what facts have been changed, it could depress sales)
As a culture, we accept "the stretch". It's sort of the truth.It's mostly the truth. It depends on what your definition if "is,is". It's good enough.
We like drama. And sometimes the truth just gets in the way of good drama.
It did last night. Does anyone really believe that Oprah spent the hour trying to dial in to Larry King Live only to hear a busy signal?
Does anyone really believe she just got through with seconds to spare and that the producers of Larry King made an executive decision to run over their alloted time to accomodate Oprah?
I believe that Oprah was contacted earlier in the day. I believe she had a private number and didn't try to dial in on the regular number. I believe the producers held her call until just the right moment.
Did it change what she had to say? Did that little "stretch" taint her support for Frey?
Did she and the folks at Larry King even think that there could be some irony in the fact that they were commenting on his veracity while they were "staging" this last minute breathless call?
Probably not. It is after all, just show biz.
My StumbleUpon Page
