From: Connie Rockman <connie.rock>
Date: Sat, 04 Nov 2000 16:46:49 -0800

Re: the difficulty of discerning what is actually factual in nonfiction, including biography . . .

I like to quote from an article by Russell Freedman
- based on a speech given at Ohio State University in 1989 when I teach classes in nonfiction and biography to my children's literature students. Freedman says that
"facts can be unreliable, misleading, ambiguous, or slippery." When researching his book CHILDREN OF THE WILD WEST he discovered that in source material, you find different "truths." The diaries and journals written by male pioneers traveling West in the 19th century emphasized the dangers and hostility of native Americans. Women's diaries, however, tell a very different story. The women generally started their journeys afraid of the native tribes, but they usually ended up describing the natives they encountered as "friendly in manner and helpful in deed." Therefore, Freedman goes on to say, "Just because a book is allegedly based on fact doesn't mean that it tells the truth."

I think all we can hope for in biography and other so?lled "nonfiction" is a writer with the skill to create a narrative flow based on the best information available . . . but it will never be perfectly factual. Every memory, whether remembered or researched, is filtered through that particular writer's perception.

Connie Rockman
Received on Sat 04 Nov 2000 06:46:49 PM CST