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I’ve been wanting to write about this for so long. But thought I’d leave it to the more literary blogs. Ryan<\/a> mentioned it on his. And I keep waiting for Gigi<\/a> to give us her $.02. But when I saw this<\/a>, I just had to laugh. And stuff that makes me laugh often makes its way here. <\/p>\n “What do you think of Oprah’s change of heart?” they ask. Fuck, I don’t know, the fact that there has been huge public outcry, maybe? (Not that “the public” would ever turn its back on Oprah. Well, not for something like this, anyway.) That even the great Michiko Kakutani wrote about it<\/a>, perhaps? <\/p>\n Oprah’s claim that she is doing something now because her inaction “left the impression that the truth is not important,” is good enough for me. I’m glad she had him on the show and I’m glad that she made him answer, at least to faithful Oprah watchers, for his misleadings. But mostly, I’m happy this thing has drug on for as long as it has been. I love the discussion it’s prompted. How truthful does a memoir need to be? What makes it different from an autobiography anyway? Do we need disclaimers in the front matter of every book explaining exactly what the reader is getting? (Which makes me think of something I heard about how the Catholic church is demanding that the producers of the DaVinci Code movie insert something in the opening credits that says “This is a work of fiction.” That’s a whole other post.)<\/p>\n God knows, as do some of my closer friends, that I sometimes embellish the shit I write here. I don’t think I post anything that is so far from the truth that the meaning is lost. But I misquote, or requote, as I see necessary. And I fill in details that I don’t totally remember. (What can I say? I’ve blocked out most of my childhood and I drink a lot.) But people aren’t paying me for something other than what they are getting. Hell, y’all aren’t paying me period.<\/p>\n I’m pissed at James Frey. And I think what’s happening is both hilarious and just. It’s maybe just a touch out of hand, but so was prison, wasn’t it Jimmy? Oh wait, it wasn’t?<\/p>\n