Writers pick up the 'Pieces' from memoir controversy
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The recent fabrications in the best-selling memoir "A Million Little Pieces" may make publishing more difficult for others who want to write about their life experiences, says a Purdue University non-fiction expert."There has been a lot of talk about truth and memoirs, and without a doubt author James Frey made some egregious errors," says Bich Minh Nguyen (pronounced Bit Min New-win), who teaches creative non-fiction writing and whose first memoir will be published this year by Viking/Penguin. "But, the memoir has always been shaped by the awareness that memory is subjective. In a memoir, the writer is not trying to present only the facts, which is what an autobiography can do. Instead, the writer is interpreting his or her experience."
In January, Frey admitted he made up some sections of his popular book, which gained national attention after being publicly endorsed by Oprah Winfrey.
Readers should expect memoirs to be truthful, but they also should go beyond presenting journalistic facts and offer interpretation, Nguyen says. The memoirist is writing from memory, and the mind is not always reliable.
"I tell my students to write about what 'I remember to the best of my knowledge,'" Nguyen says. "What I remember about 1982 may be completely different from what my sister remembers, but that doesn't make either of our interpretations any less meaningful.
"I can't remember the exact color of the dress my mom wore when she scolded me on July 4, 1986, but what matters is that I remember how I felt when she scolded me. Frey went wrong when he knowingly changed facts for seemingly sensational purposes — for instance, saying he was in jail for months when it was really a few hours."
Nguyen does not believe the controversy over "A Million Little Pieces" will affect people's interest in memoirs.
"As an art form, the memoir provides us with ways to reconsider our identities, our pasts and our perceptions," she says.
The popularity of blogging may be an example of how people enjoy writing and reading about real life experiences.
Nguyen's memoir, "Stealing Buddha's Dinner," is about growing up in Michigan as a first-generation Vietnamese girl.
Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Source: Bich Minh Nguyen, (765) 496-1651, nguyenb@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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