After reading Ben Yagoda's "A Brief History of Memoir-Bashing," I began to reaffirm, in my thinking, the absolute necessity for memoirists to tell the truth, to the best of their ability, in their writing. Given that there has been a long tradition of negative criticism towards the genre, writers who present falsehoods as fact are not only hurting theri credibility, but are also given more fodder for those critics who don't think much of memoir anyway.
I agree with the anonymous author that Yagoda quoted as saying, "the form should be the province of people of 'lofty reputation' or who have something of 'historical importance to say'—not of the 'vulgar' who try to 'excite prurient interest that may command a sale.'" I think if a memoirist feel the tempatation to stretch the truth, or to "sex up" his or her story, then perhaps they really have nothing of historical importance to say, and they are only trying to make big bucks off of a sensationalistic story.
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I was very entertained by your last statement. I believe that people do "sex up" their lives but it may not always be on purpose, some people are just eccentric. Life spoken about plainly is boring. Example: I walked across the street. Sexed Up: I happily strolled across the path with thoughts of my future dancing through my head. Unaware that a gypsy cab was approaching rapidly. I mean the extras are meaningless but it moves you through the story. I mean anyone who has ever heard a fishing story or a story from a grandparent knows to take it all with a grain of salt.
OK I agree with you that the writer is suppose to tell the truth but what about what Yagoda is talking about, can anyone write a memoir? What if the person is not truthful? Do you think that the reader would really be able to see through it or just believe it at face value?
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