A couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed an evening of poker with some people working in the publishing industry. The talk was, of course, all about James Frey. The question of the day was whether publishers were going to hire fact-checkers, and the difference between a memoir and a novel.
One of the editors said, “If Oprah asked us to give a horse a blowjob on Times Square, then we, publishers and editors, would line up to do so.” I have thought of myself for a couple of years as a libertarian, and this was still shocking for me. Not the fact that so many people working in the publishing industry were willing to perform indecent acts on Times Square. But the fact that they were doing this only to please Oprah seemed unhealthy to me.
I have nothing against indecent acts on Times Square, but it should be between consenting adults. If my editor were going to perform an indecent act just to help my novel sell, we could be sure that he or his boss believed that some serious profit was to be made. But we would also be sure that something was in decline. It might be the publishing industry itself, it might be Oprah, it might be the author--or the editor, or both.
Anyhow, if you think it helps the narrative structure of your memoir to have a chapter or two inserted about the time you spent in jail, and you have never been to jail, then before you start writing, go to jail.
Then, a couple of days ago, I spent an evening with some Europeans. The talk was all about a few Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammed.
Since I’m not opposed to indecent acts at Times Square, I think that ridiculing others and ridiculing other people’s religion might not always be the most tasteful thing to do. Ridiculing others is an art, but it should not be forgotten that being ridiculed is also a compliment.
I would like to remind the believers all over the world that Oscar Wilde said something like: “There is only one thing worse than being talked about. That’s not being talked about.” This is still very accurate.