Talk:Memoir

memoir: "But in any event, the memorist must be true to significant facts, unless of course, the author doesn't think the truth is interesting enough to make a best selling book. Some authors, such as James Frey, may decorate the truth with elaborate embellishments."

Is this a joke? I hope so! Truth is truth; no substitutions. James Frey should be prosecuted for fraud. And, then there is Oprah. 24.184.122.230 16:16, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Controvery: James Frey

This article, under the title "Controversy" mentions the James Frey fiasco. This little ship has passed. Is it really worth mentioning anymore. I would like to delete it. Griot 17:19, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Yes I think the Frey fiasco is essential to the memoir's maturity. It became, at least in the popular imagination, a form to be reckoned with once one author disabused it. The idea of trust is key to the memoir, for both writer and reader. Frey's lack of trust ought to be memorialized.

I have an objection to the statement that a "memoirist" is someone who helps others write their memoirs. If true, it's very obscure. Nowadays people speak of a memoir writer as a memoirist. I know I do and the hundreds of memoir writers I know.

Tom Larson —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nosralmat (talk • contribs)

Words of Wisdom (moved from the main article page)

No doubt these are words of wisdom, but they do seem to me not very encyclopedic.--345Kai 23:41, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

• In recent years, with the resurgence of memoir as a means of expressing wisdom gained from one's life, many folks nowadays hold the opinion, "If you think your story is unique check with someone else before you write a script or a book and force it upon the world. It would save us all a lot of trouble and heartaches. No one wants to read a book by a dog that lived in the Whitehouse, at least intelligent people shouldn't." - Richard Markman, literary professor in an interview with the campus newpaper "Grapevine."

Speculation

After a re-edit on account of "false" info, I deleted the following statement: "A memoir also tends to have a more intimate focus on the author's own memories, feelings and emotions than an autobiography tends to have." After all, who can say for sure? Both autobiographies and memoirs can be quite intimate, I'd say. Maria 01:33, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

I think there ought to be some distinction on this page between memoirs and essays. Unfortunately, I would have trouble doing this as I'm not entirely certain what all of the differences are. I do know, though, that Orwell did not write memoirs, and that he wrote essays. I am rather certain that David Sedaris refers to his nonfiction pieces as essays. Essays and memoirs are similar - hence my confusion - but essays, for one, tend to be more analytical and less narrative, and have an entirely different overall style to them. It is very misleading to list some of the supposed memoirists as such, as they are very clearly essayists.

BobCinnamon 18:02, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Virginia Woolf

I think Virginia wrote memoirs too. What do you think?fjhjfhjfhjfhjg --Click me! write to me 02:18, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

wiki organization of alternate spellings / articles

See the discussion at Talk:Memoir (disambiguation)#Multiple spellings / meanings(?) of this word
Pugetbill (talk) 18:03, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

memorialist or memoirist?

There both in dictionaries.[1][2] Anyone know if one is more "correct"? Or is it a British/American or old/modern thing? 71.155.241.19 (talk) 03:43, 12 July 2009 (UTC)