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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Andrew Young the admitted father of the John Edwards story: The arrests for worthless checks, DWI, burglary, criminal mischief, the federal tax lien
webofdeception.com
The distinguishing characteristic of fiction--even historical fiction, even romans à clef--is its fictivity. Using fiction to make historical or journalistic points dishonors fiction, history, and journalism. The latter two are about facts, while the first is about truth. (See Aristotle's Poetics re: "poetry is a higher and more philosophical thing than history" because poets, and other artists, have the right and responsibility to make art, i.e. lie.)
Thus, while it is interesting to bring up McInerney, doing so is not the same as journalism. Literary biographers know that they can go just so far with fiction and then have to stop. (This is, once more, to the credit of fiction, although many of us have found it nigh impossible to make the case with freshmen.)
Let us take, for example, the novel Slaughterhouse-Five by the recently deceased novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., son of Kurt Vonnegut, Sr. You may have heard of him, Bill E.
It is a work of fiction and yet--startlingly enough!!--includes a character named "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr." who visits with friends in the "Introduction" and appears, shitting his brains out, about halfway through. "That was I," he says, and the naive reader thinks Hey, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was there!.
Here's the thing: the actions ascribed to that character are not necessarily those that the author himself undertook. (You may also want to see the next novel by that same novelist, Breakfast of Champions, in which the novelist interacts with one of his clearly fictional characters.) I am not saying that Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was not in Dresden (and check me here--my copy of the novel is not in the office, where I am drawing up syllabi--doesn't "Vonnegut" say that he shits his brains out not in Dresden but in the British POW camp? whoa) during its firebombing, only that it would be foolish to write about him biographically as doing such without documentary evidence confirming that that particular fictive event has roots in fact.
So, yeah: Justin took a grad-studentish shortcut that, as a grad student, he ought to avoid if he intends to write for careful readers.
run a smear piece on the woman in this affair before a smear piece on the guy who fucked her, cheated on his wife, lied to the country, and doesn't even have the courage to determine whether or not her child is his?
seems to e the perfect embodiment of left. And I won't be surprised when Obama ends up with the same type of woman in the future.
ah, sigh...moving right along...
It appears she thought Mr. Edwards heart was located just below his waist line.
So, yeah: Justin took a grad-studentish shortcut that, as a grad student, he ought to avoid if he intends to write for careful readers.
That was fascinating. I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about. Lucky for me, niether do you, so we're even!
Almost right about Vonnegut, but he was never "in a British POW camp". I'd venture to say he was never held captive by the British at all. The scene you mention is from when he was in a German POW camp along with British soldiers who were also POWS, and it's one of my favorites ever. I loved the way he just injected himself, without artifice.
What any of this has to do with this article escapes me though. Entirely. The part where the author of this article said "every word written about this character based on this real person therefore describes this real person without variation" escaped me also. That's my only guess at what you might be trying to critique, which is fine except that it doesn't exist.
Oh and Vonnegut? He was most definitely in Dresden. I'm sorry to report that not knowing this most basic bit of background would tend to impeach that arrogant sense of authority about his work you're trying to project. Just a bit.
By the way, you cited "Bill E." You might have looked at the rest of my screen name.
Sorry, but I'll be honest. I'm far more impressed with the graduate student than I am with the professor who's sneering at him. So far anyway.
is vigor. Girlfriend may be pretentious and her path strewn with smarminess (Edwards) but at least she's out there trying.
I reserve my disdain and hatred for the motherfuckers who kill horses.
Rielle's side.
Sad that the media gives so much time to Ms Rielle. Where were they when John was talking about the two Americas, New Orleans , poverty and homeless vets.
These issues are no less important because John turns out to have been preoccupied. In fact they are even more deserving of attention , since he obviously wasn't able to give them his all even when he was talking about them.
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Of all people Oprah put on a great show yesterday on these issues. For the first time she wasn't blaming people's mindset for their hunger, homelessness and inability to manifest a high protein dinner with enough vegetables.( much less abundance and furntiure to eat it off of.)
We need to see more REAL stories of human life,not these manufactured morality tales, that want to lure us into the perils of wealth. We need to see the perils of the poverty and the potential that is being wasted all around us.
Why does the media keep shoving news of Edwards adultery down our throats? That's just what he wants--more publicity. I'm sure he figures we'll all forgive him because he is so pretty and innocent looking. NOT.
This is just another Paris, Britney, Lindsay, Amy "National Inquirer" issue. Why don't you journalists understand we just don't care about such immoral people.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
