What's more important, truth or message?

Funny, you brought that up, because I just got that book today. I think in this case the message is the most important. Stuff the truth. If the message can make somebody's day a little bit brighter and help them get through their life a little bit easier, then that is all that matters, if you ask me.

The sad thing is that if the book were not climbing to the top no one would care one way or the other. It is like a poem section on this site it is amazing for a poem to have a 5.0 with one hundred votes. I personally could not care less about superficial details of trivial nitpicking. Exaggerations are an inescapable part of life I found the Star report in the fiction section while the impeachment proceedings were still going on. But that’s not here, or there. Got to go with JHarrison on this one .I can’t see an author not using some type of poetic license and getting attention in the highly competitive market of today

Not every book contains 100 percent truth. There is always some embellishment in books. That is just simply a fact. However, with that said I think that the message behind stories is what I find important.

--Sher

I just responded to another forum on this too, but slightly different. In response to your query, the message is the most important; however, I do believe that the author should not have used the term "memoir". This has now cast shadows on works in progress and put writers under greater scrutiny by publishers ... almost like closing the door.

If James Frey decided to never tell the truth again................
I believe he told the truth when he said

" I have never seen about addiction,
or alcoholism that I felt was true
to the experience that I lived.
Books always glamoize it, or
romanticize, or make it seem cool.
It is not glamorous. It is not cool
or even close. It is just awful"