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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Week 7 Prompt

After working in a public library for fifteen years, I have seen several works pulled for being exposed as frauds.  The most recent instance of this happened just a month ago.  We pulled the book Boy Who Came Back From Heaven by Alex Malarkey after the author "recanted his testimony about the afterlife" (Charles).  The information actually came to us after one of our staff members read an article in the Washington Post entitled "'Boy Who Came Back From Heaven' Actually Didn't; Books Recalled" by Ron Charles.  The library promptly withdrew the book and recycled it rather than put it in our book sale.

Another issue that has been discussed concerns the controversy surrounding Lance Armstrong.  Do we pull the books focusing on his cycling career?  Do we put an article explaining the controversy in the books?  I'm actually not sure what was ever decided; however, we have begun a heavy weeding project that looks at dates from the CREW manual as well as circulations.  The problem may have solved itself as these books died in popularity after the truth was revealed.

Lastly, I'm reminded of James Frey's A Million Little Pieces.  This one is probably the most notorious due to the publicity push that followed its selection as one of Oprah Winfrey's book club selections. According to a 2006 article from The Smoking Gun, "Frey appears to have fictionalized his past to propel and sweeten the book's already melodramatic narrative and help convince readers of his malevolence" ("A Million Little Lies"). Surprisingly, I had believed that the library had pulled the book; a quick search revealed the library switched it from a memoir to the 362's (social problems) instead.  
Works Cited

Charles, Ron.  "'Boy Who Came Back From Heaven Actually Didn't'; Books Recalled." Washington Post. 16 Jan. 2015.  Web. 24 Feb. 2015.

"A Million Little Lies." The Smoking Gun. 4 Jan. 2006.  Web.  24 Feb. 2015.
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownMarch 1, 2015 at 5:27 PM

    As a reader I would be extremely upset if I had read a book like Frey’s A Million Little Pieces that was claimed to be non-fiction and was not. In fact just reading the article The Smoking Gun presented proving that Frey had lied made me angry even though I have not read the book. For me I love non-fiction titles because I get the true story as told by that person about their life and to be lied to about the details is almost personal. In this instance it is Frey’s fault for presenting this as non-fiction but it also the publishers fault for not taking the time to verify if these stories were true.

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  2. UnknownMarch 1, 2015 at 6:56 PM

    I was not aware of the Malarkey recant; even though I am not at all surprised!!! I think that the point "A million little pieces" made was that life is lived like that and can still be overcome and turned into a positive situation. That is truth and hope for many unheard voices.

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