[PW] Re: James Frey -- pro and con?

[Edward Franchuk]

Robin wrote:
~~~~~~~~
I'm working with a college reading instructor who is using James Frey's
A Million Little Pieces to examine questions about truth, fact,
fiction, and memoir.  Her students will need several articles -- half
on the "He told a good story so what does it matter?" side, and half on
the "He's a lying sack of $%#$" side.

The latter have been easier to find than the former -- and I'm not sure
that I'm searching very well.  We have the original Smoking Gun expose,
some material from Frey's own website, and not much else.
~~~~~~~~
You might find some useful stuff in _They Never Said It_, by Paul F. Boller 
Jr. and John George. The Amazon review follows:

Abraham Lincoln never said, "You cannot fool all the people all the time." 
Thomas Jefferson never said, "That government is best which governs least." 
And Horace Greeley never said, "Go west, young man." In They Never Said It, 
Paul Boller, Jr., and John George examine hundreds of
misquotations, incorrect attributions, and blatant fabrications, outlining 
the origins of the quotes and revealing why they should be consigned to the 
historical trashcan.
Many of the misquotes are quite harmless. Some are inadvertent misquotes 
that have become popular (Shakespeare actually said, "The best part of valor 
is discretion"), others, the inventions of reporters embellishing a story 
(Franklin Roosevelt never opened a speech to a DAR group with the
salutation, "My fellow immigrants"). But some of the quotes, such as Charles 
Darwin's supposed deathbed recantation of evolution, are blatantly dishonest 
and falsify the historical record. And others are chillingly vicious, filled 
with virulent racial and religious prejudices that completely
distort the views of the person supposedly quoted and spread distrust and 
hatred among the gullible. These include the forged remarks attributed to 
Benjamin Franklin that Jews should be excluded from America, and the 
fabricated condemnation of Catholics attributed to Lincoln.
An entertaining and yet thought-provoking book, They Never Said It sorts out 
a great deal of history and sets it right, going beyond a mere catalog of 
popular misconceptions to reveal how conservatives and liberals, atheists 
and evangelists, all have at times twisted and even invented the words of 
eminent figures to promote their own ends. It is the ultimate debunking 
reference, a perfect complement to handbooks of quotations.

<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195055411/103-5708352-4818238?v=glance&n=283155>

or <http://tinyurl.com/jb8mu>.

Edward Franchuk            \\\\=^..^=////

Collège militaire royal du Canada/Royal Military College of Canada
Campus St-Jean Campus

<http://vif.com/users/edfranchuk>

"Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a 
chasm in two small jumps" (David Lloyd George).

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