Oprah has eight more shows.  I’m watching one of the eight right now, an interview with James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces.  They are dealing with the notion of TRUTH.  I’m not going to explore the earlier story/controversy or exposure regarding his book, but I’m thinking a bit about this concept of TRUTHINESS.

Literature has this fascinating way of taking us places.  We are left breathless, curled up in a warm bed next to the warm light of a bedside lamp or while leaning back in a lawn chair in the heat of the afternoon on a beach, the sound of waves, a constant lull in the background.  We believe that the authors intimately know the places they write about because they have had the power, through their stories, to ‘literally’ take us traveling.

It is important to write honestly and to understand when, as writers, we embellish and fictionalize.  I think that the blog format provides for an opportunity to write as memoir.  The Blogger is someone who is fearless.  With access and the proliferation of social media, there is a real problem to consider regarding truthiness.  Do we really know who is sharing the dialogue?  Are events reported as facts or perceptions? The Truth is something very tangible, but not.