VIDEO: The Question of Nonfiction
Six writers talk about truthiness in nonfiction.
April 15, 2012
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FROM JAMES FREY TO MIKE DAISEY the issue of truth in nonfiction continues to be a source of angst, perturbation, inquiry, fun, argument, and discussion. Here a few authors have a quick say, in a series of LARB One-Minute Films, by novelists Aimee Bender and Janet Fitch, and four wrtiers who work in both fiction and nonftiction: Laila Lalami, Mark Haskell Smith, Paul Mandelbaum, and Seth Greenland.
AIMEE BENDER
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me6eN7G8z1E&t=5s[/embed]
Some find the argument that fidelity to fact is the essence of nonfiction, including the memoir, to be an impossible and perhaps uninteresting goal; some, like Seth Greenland, find our culture's inability to agree on the solidity of fact to be a sign of the apocalypse.
SETH GREENLAND
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPVc6jDSgVo
Among the recent books on the subject, the one that has caused the most recent hubbub is The Lifespan of a Fact by John D'Agata and Jim Fingal; a couple years ago it was Reality Hunger by David Shields. We have links reviews of these books in the right column.
LAILA LALAMI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM7OSngkLIc
PAUL MANDELBAUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuKiSKXid2k
JANET FITCH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmUWdLV_Ars
Music on all videos: Performed by Tom McDermott, Courtesy of Bananastan Records and Van Dyke Parks