Books – Page 71 – The View From Sari's World

It’s Weekly Geek time. I have not participated in a while, but I felt today’s subject would be a good one to discuss here. This week the subject is about authors. From the Weekly Geek blog:

Having recently been told that I’m odd because I’m not terribly interested in author interviews I’ve started to ponder whether there are two types of readers…those who stick to the books versus those who like to know more about the author’s background, thoughts, motivations and writing process.

So, what about you?

· Do you seek out interviews with authors of books you’ve enjoyed? Why or why not?

· Do you interview authors on your blog? If yes what did you gain from the interview process? If no is it because you don’t want to or because you haven’t felt able to ask an author yet?

· Do you subscribe to the blogs of authors you like? Which ones? All the authors you like or only certain ones?

· Do you track down author websites or look for biographical information about them elsewhere? Would you skip reading a book if you couldn’t find out anything about its author?

I confess, when I was younger I was obsessed with Stephen King. As I mentioned here before, I was a huge fan. I not only had to be the first to grab a new release, I sometimes bought my books from his home town book store. His home town book store (whose name now escapes me) also used to sell Christmas ornaments based on his work or home town. I still have the ornaments, but no longer put them on the family tree. If the internet existed back then I am sure I would be looking for daily updates from him. If Twitter was around back then and had he participated I am sure I would not have gotten a lot done, as I would be waiting on his next tweet. “Oh, man, what is King doing now?” would be my only thoughts. Luckily I grew out of this crazed stage and moved on to a more mature one. Really, I do not give a lot of thought to a writer’s personal life. The book is all I need to “know”. A writer’s life is not as important to me. As long as I am reading fiction the author’s personal story is of no interest to me. If I am reading non-fiction then I do care about the author’s background, if only to learn what his or her area of expertise is and how it relates to the book.

Sometimes learning about an author’s real life takes away the mystique. I used to feel Neil Gamin must be one of those writers whose personal life was surely be as mysterious and creepy as his books. I follow him on Twitter (why I started I cannot say) and now know he likes to make pancakes for his teen daughter and her friends. Really, I do not need to know this, yet I do, and it makes no difference to me. I still like the creepy books, yet sometimes as I read one of his books, the thought of him making pancakes does spring to mind. On the other hand, knowing about Gaiman and other authors who I have made contact with, either through e-mail or personal blogs, has made their writing less intimidating; they seem more human and ordinary. Having personal contact with authors makes me feel a little more protective of their work and I am more apt to read more of it. This may be the real upside for authors who are accessible to their readers.

I have interviewed Ruth Downie here, only because she was kind enough to contact me after I reviewed one of her books. I am still too shy and intimidated to ask authors for interviews. Susan King and I exchanged a few e-mails and though I still do not like historical romance, I am a fan of hers and will read her more mainstream novels. I do not know anything about her personal life; I just know she is a very nice woman who is a terrific writer. And really, this is all I need to know about any writer.

Today as I labored to stay awake at work (my job is really boring) I caught up on some NPR podcasts. A subject came up that I thought was worth talking about here. Well really it is more of a question I want to pose to you all: Do you expect Publishers to take the time to vet nonfiction stories, especially when they are controversial. Do you hold them accountable when “nonfiction” turns out to be fiction?

By now you may know Henry Holt Publishing has pulled Charles Pellegrino’s book The Last Train from Hiroshima because it turns out the focus of the book Joseph Fuoco was a fraud (Fuoco is now deceased). Turns out Fuoco was not on the plane that escorted the Enola Gay. What tipped them off was his comment about the bomb. According to Fuoco an accident happened before they took off that depleted the power of the bomb. Can you imagine? The bomb was not as powerful as it could have been? Scientist and experts cried fraud and an investigation into Fuoco’s involvement ensued. Other characters turned out to be hard to track down so the publisher has decided to pull the book. Now there are questions about why Pellegrino’s work was not looked at a little more closely and why he chose to believer rather than investigate. Pellegrino is not talking right now, so it is hard to know if he chose to believe or if he knew all along he was writing fiction.

Henry Holt is taking responsibility as far a selling the book goes, but will not take responsibility for vetting the book. They say they do not have the time or man power to fact check books they offer as nonfiction. Several other publishers are saying the same. So the question comes up; why not take responsibility? After all they sell us a book as nonfiction, so why not take responsibility when what they sell us turns out to be a lie? Are they not then frauds themselves when they put their name on something that turns out to be nothing more than a good yarn?

Yes, it is hard to vet someone like James Fry who lies about his life, but to have a manuscript that could change the course of history is a different matter. After all it would only take a phone call or two to find out that Fuoco was not part of the military. I bet you could find the answer on Google! And when given a manuscript that disputes over 60 years of history, wouldn’t it be wise and prudent to make sure what you are about to offer is in fact, true?

When I buy a nonfiction book about history I know there may be a mistake, omission or factual error; no one has ever written a definitive history book completely error free. But when I buy a nonfiction book with a first person narrative I expect that person to be credible. I expect a publishing company that puts its name and reputation on a book to have at least made sure this person is who he/she claims to be. At some point an editor should question the author’s facts and supporting evidence.

What about you dear Reader? Do you hold the publishing company responsible for making sure nonfiction is just that, or do you buy into the idea that they do not have the time or man power to make sure what they are selling us is the real deal?

If you want to hear the NPR interview here is the link. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124495774

I am excited to announce my first giveaway is starting to pick up steam. Here is an updated list of the books that I have for the box so far:

Ruth Downie Persona Non Grata

Nick Hrnby How to be Good

Sandra Worth The King’s Daughter

M J Rose The Reincarnationist (autographed!)

Susan Abulahawa Mornings in Jenin

Kate Atkinson Behind the Scenes at the Museum

As promised I am adding more books for every five new followers. I appreciate everyone who has joined and those who have spread the word. We have two more weeks, and I have plenty of shipping boxes! Can we get to 50? 100? Hey I would be happy if we saw more people commenting. After all, my goal is to have a community. I want to hear from you!

Category: Books

Weekly Geek time, To know an author is to read more?

Fact or Fiction in books; who is responsible for published books?

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