BethAnne, I always cringe when I see this: "Alison Weaver received her MFA in creative nonfiction from the New School in 2004." What the heck? How can nonfiction be creative? I think this degree is ludicrous, even though it seems to have become very popular in recent years. What does one learn in such a program?....how to fill in the blanks in one's memory by being creative? How to make up conversations, word-for-word, that took place when one was four years old? Proponents of such a genre say that it is nonfiction told in a literary style...so then why not call these programs/degrees "Literary Non-fiction"? This takes me back to a reading I attended, by a very popular memoirist. She said that she was contacted by a publisher after writing a short essay about her childhood for an alumni magazine. She went to see him and he wanted her to write a book-length memoir. She told him that all she recalled was in her essay. He basically told her to make up the rest by using the essay as an "outline". She did, and then went on to do a second volume....both of which became best sellers! Is it any wonder that so many memoirs seem to be imaginary, when the authors apparently are given a license to lie by their publishers?

I think she has a point, Bethanne-we have to consider the possibilty that this is well-written creative fiction that her agent and editors are plugging as a memoir for marketing purposes... As to the whole bio-cred thing in general, I view it like those unremarkable women's purses that sell for 4 figures because of the designer tag-just another day in the life, y'know?

Although I understand the point, that many memoirs are written with as much "shock and awe" as possible for market value whether true or not, I am a Cascade graduate and found Alison's descriptions to be very truthful. I cannot vouch for her life experiences as I graduated years before her, but her ability to put into words the experiences and feelings that came from Cascade are amazing. I will have to have my friends and family read what I only could attempt to explain. Whether most memoirs are truthful are not, I don't know. But when I find the few that describe my own struggles with life so well, it's really worth it.

EDavis, I'm really glad to see your comment (and this is exactly what thrills me about blogging... ). I also think (and I'm NOT acting as a Frey apologist!) that many people do read memoirs because they are drawn to prose that describes their own struggles so well. However, I personally believe, as I've said here before, that fiction can offer the same reward. It's just more of a challenge to find it.

I hate to burst the fiction/non-fiction bubble here, but this memoir is indeed true. It's shocking that places this exist, isn't it? I, in fact, attended this school at the same time Alison did. Crazy, huh?