Wednesday, January 25, 2006

2071 It’s a great book and the art is more important than the truth.

No, that's not Oprah talking about James Frey's "A million little pieces," which has been revealed to be a complete fraud. It was the response to a warning that Alexie Sherman gave the editor of Nasdijj, whose book The Blood was about to be released.

In a article full of intrigue, gay sex, phony adoption stories, autism, KKK and the growing cadre of whites posing as Native Americans in order to be published writers, Matthew Fleisher attempts to shed some light on why and how readers, talk show hosts, critics, editors and film producers want to continue supporting made-up memoirs. The difference between Nasdijj and the other Indian imitators, says his critics, is that he doesn't try to appropriate and promote Indian spirituality and culture, but primarily uses it as a backdrop--he prefers young boys. Even when he was a "leather lit" writer, Nasdijj (then known as Timothy Barrus), was claiming service in Vietnam, also a lie.

After reading "Navahox" I imagined that before we know it, Oprah will be revealed as part Native American with a closet life in the KKK, Ward Churchill as her cousin, and James Frey as her autistic adopted son. Hey, it's art that matters, not truth, right?

HT to Galley Cat who was writing about fake authors coming in threes.

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