Truth In Memoirs

I think for a book to be completely considered a memoir, all of it should be true. One thing that aggravates me to no end is when authors write Inspired by a True Story at the top of their novel(s). Everything is inspired by a true story. Otherwise there would be no way for the reader to connect to the authors work. Then what would be the point of the story? I think that some authors will connect their book to a real event just to attract viewers or fans of that event. Doing that, in my opinion, makes the author seem weak. I think they should be able to draw the same ideas and themes from the event, into another one made-up in their own head. That makes an author remembered.

I am not a fan bending the truth. I cannot stand when people lie, and I feel lied to when I realize that a book or a movie “inspired” by a true story has left out details or changed reality. It doesn’t make sense to make up a new story when the inspiration came from something that already happened—all you have to do is write or film it. For example, I had some friends see The Vow and tell me how it was afterwards. They loved it and they raved at how it was a true story and how lovely it was that someone would do that for their wife. We decided to research the story, and it turns out that half of what they depicted in the movie never happened. This upset all of us greatly; it seemed to cheat the audience from what they saw as something real, into something fake.