Augusten Burroughs: I'm no James Frey

The Running With Scissors lawsuit has been settled out of court:

A family that claimed author Augusten Burroughs defamed them in his best-selling book "Running with Scissors" has settled a lawsuit against the author and his publisher, their attorney said Wednesday.

Burroughs and his publisher, St. Martin's Press, agree to call the work a "book" instead of "memoirs," in the author's note and to change the acknowledgments page in future editions to say that the Turcotte family's memories of events he describes "are different than my own," and expressing regret for "any unintentional harm" to them, according to Howard Cooper, an attorney for the family. He said financial terms of the settlement are confidential.

Both sides are claiming victory; Burroughs has more on his blog.

It's an interesting question. I've never read a memoir where details haven't been changed, names obscured, events compressed, etc. So when does a memoir stop being a memoir and morph into fiction?

Comments

[Bev Marshall]

This lawsuit has been a real eye-opener for all memorists I imagine. I'm attempting to write a memoir now, and as a novelist who knows nothing about writing one, I'm intrigued by your comment about morphing into fiction. I'm fictionalizing conversations. . . for who can remember exact words? Memories are faulty and selective. Since Proust's Rememberance of Things Past we've all known that. But Frey was villified; Burroughs is skating (at least somewhat). What's that about?

[Matt Bors]

Good Question. Looks like recalling events that don't reflect positively on a party--and where the other stands to profit--can result in a lawsuit.

No one recalling there childhood could possibly substantiate everything.

[Skinny City Girl]

wow-- Burroughs's blog is incredibly boring. I made it through two posts, one about giving his dog treats and the other about his boyfriend's colonoscopy.

[Lizzy Caston]

Kevin Says, "So when does a memoir stop being a memoir and morph into fiction?"

Lizzy Says, "When there is a lawsuit and the publishers become skittish."