What's at stake with lies in literature

Our world is full of stories. Television shows, films and novels all entertain us with imaginative and creative narratives. We know this media is made-up; storytelling is part of our culture. \nA great deal of popular media comes from reality, though. The reality television boom is still strong. Memoirs and autobiographies bring us reality as told from someone's particular point of view. They can be a window into a life completely opposite from our own.\nSo what happens when a true story turns out to be less than honest?\nIn James Frey's 2003 memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," he chronicles his previous battles with drug and alcohol addiction and related crime exploits. Readers hail the book as inspiration for drug addicts hoping to recover. \nFrey appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in October 2005 when Winfrey put his book on her book club's list. Her exuberant praise rocketed the memoir to the top of the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list for 2005.\nHowever, this year might not be so kind to Frey. On Sunday, The Smoking Gun, a Web site acquired by Court TV,, published an online article detailing its investigation into Frey's book. The report claims he exaggerated stories and made up details in his memoir. \nFor example, Frey wrote about his arrest in Ohio for hitting a cop with his car while high on cocaine. However, TSG found he actually ran his car up on a curb in a no-parking zone. When an officer investigated, he was found drunk with an open bottle of beer in the front seat. \nIn another example, Frey claimed to be a part of a high school classmate's death in a car accident. In truth, two girls were killed in that accident and there are no records he had any connection to it, other than being an acquaintance of one of the victims. \nWednesday night, Winfrey called into "Larry King Live" when Frey was the guest. She assured King, Frey, Frey's mother and all of America that she stands behind the author and his book 100 percent, despite these accusations. \nI think that in her powerful, influential role, Winfrey has given her blessing to media creators who deceive their audiences -- as long as they inspire people in the process.\nHer unwavering support surprised me, as the discrepancies between Frey's memoir and the police and witness reports are vast. Also, Frey's explanation for these differences is weak -- he contends he changed certain facts to protect people and all of the other differences are only faults of his poor memory. \nA memoir is defined as a "biography written from personal knowledge," according to the Oxford English Dictionary Online. Although a former drug addict's knowledge of his or her past may not be as sharp as it would have been sober, one has to wonder that if you can't remember an event, maybe you shouldn't fill in the gaps with made-up material and call it your memory. \nThe acceptance of Frey's lies in his non-fiction book is a symptom of our culture's scary acceptance of fabrications created for entertainment purposes. Reality TV is an example of this. \nWe tell ourselves these stories are real because they appear in front of us, supposedly unscripted. Yet how many edits do the producers of any given reality show make before it airs on TV? \nWe don't watch these shows in their perfectly sequential videotaped order. We watch what has been produced and approved by its creators. It isn't all true, but we accept it enough in order to enjoy it as entertainment. \nAll books are a form of entertainment, as well. Knowing that Frey's memoir is exaggerated for dramatic effect, it is moved into the realm of made-up entertainment. Like reality television, it claims to be something into which it doesn't quite fit. \nI find lies in media to be deplorable, including those in literature and entertainment television. Fabrications damage credibility. Reality television shows don't have the credibility and respect that scripted shows do for this reason. Let's hope that Frey's escape from penalty for his falsities doesn't encourage literature and the genre of memoirs to go the way of reality television.