There are questions being raised about yet another memoir: Heart of Fire by Eritrean-German author Senait Mehari. First published in German, the book tells how her father sent her to train as a solder with the Eritrean Liberation Front when she was just six. Now her publisher has had to retract and pay libel damages over part of the memoir, and she is admitting that she never held a gun.
Several memoirs have been called into question over the last few years. After James Frey’s drug abuse memoir A Million Little Pieces was exposed as partially fabricated, a memoir of prostitution by T.J. LeRoy was also found to be fictional. There have even been questions asked about Ishmael Beah’s child soldier memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.
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Is the memoir falling into disgrace as a literary form? Do you think memoirs can be trusted?
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Several memoirs have been called into question over the last few years. After James Frey’s drug abuse memoir A Million Little Pieces was exposed as partially fabricated, a memoir of prostitution by T.J. LeRoy was also found to be fictional. There have even been questions asked about Ishmael Beah’s child soldier memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.
Story
Is the memoir falling into disgrace as a literary form? Do you think memoirs can be trusted?
More...