David Sedaris, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Fact, and Truth

Alex Heard in the New Republic and, in reaction, Jack Shafer in Slate both question how much of the work of David Sedaris is really non-fiction and how much is made-up. Mr. Shafer has been disappointed in the lack of reaction on the part of journalists and the humorist and also asks a question:"So, why has Sedaris added fiction to so much of his nonfiction?"

For an answer, I go back to a talk I once heard given by Jean Shepherd. Many know him as the author of the work on which the movie "A Christmas Story" was based - and he played the off-screen adult voice of Ralph Parker. But for years he walked into a radio studio, apparently unencumbered by notes or scripts, and wove miraculously humorous tales from the pain of childhood. His stories were in top magazines and then collected into books - a good investment of reading time, by the way. But not as funny as hearing him tell the stories.

So in this talk in front of a large group of college students, Jean Shepherd talked about one of the things that enormously annoyed him: when people refused to believe that the stories were fiction. People would insist that the short tales were actually recounting of real events. "They refuse to give me the credit of being the author," he said in those or somewhat similar words - or not, but the meaning was clear. People wouldn't take the material to be fiction even if he said it was.

In that light, why shouldn't David Sedaris say that his work is "embellished" non-fiction? Even if he said that he made every last bit up, no one would believe him, and I don't buy that people can read his stories and think that they are 100% fact. The quotes and actions are too perfect. But they often have a ring of truth, and that, to me, is more important.