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On the Web Wed Mar 21 2012
Truthiness In Creative Nonfiction
John Cook of Gawker takes on the Mike Daisey scandal (the author whose story was retracted from This American Life) by playing devil's advocate with the work of David Sedaris and David Foster Wallace:
If the false parts are essential to making the whole thing work, then the whole thing doesn't really work. Shave those little cheats out of the "narrative," and Wallace's artful accounts of neurosis in the heart of consumer culture lose their edge. Sedaris' escapades become commonplace. And Daisey's indignation becomes sanctimony. And if the false parts aren't essential -- why are they there?
Read more on Gawker.