Utter Sanctimony

OPRAH! OPRAH! OPRAH! it’s a MEMOIR! It’s literature! It’s not an autobiography! It’s not journalism! Frey is not a head of state and he’s not a politician. He’s a writer; he told you a story. It’s good writing and you loved it! It’s a book of “brutally honest” feelings about recovering from addiction. It's a work of art!

I continue to be appalled, maybe even frightened now by her impact on publishing. Her sanctimonious confrontation of James Frey actually made headlines in the New York Times! (You may have to subscribe to see it.) Why do we care what she thinks about literature? Is she an expert?

This is so ironic because just last week I was in the Border’s on MacArthur Boulevard in Allentown and they shelve all the memoirs alphabetically by author in their literature section. At the time, I was annoyed and thought it was strange. But now I think maybe they have the right idea.