Buford T Pusser

Today I was at Borders Bookstore and I heard a woman ask the clerk "Non fiction is real?".

Although I found this sad, I found it sadder that the clerk hesitated for about 20 seconds before she replied "Uhhh, fiction is just stories so that's right."

Thanks for letting me share.

RoQuEr

I think I was in 2nd grade when I made the mnemonic "fiction is fake"

Buford T Pusser

That's funny. I always used "non fiction is not fake".

movielib

Nonfiction can be fake like The Amityville Horror: A True Story.

MurraySiskind

I have worked in a bookstore for a few years and you'd be surprised how many times people ask, "Where is your non-fiction section?" This is in a Barnes & Noble so the non-fiction "section" is pretty much the entire store.

D.Pham5GLTE (>60GB)

fic·tion P Pronunciation Key (fkshn)
n.
An imaginative creation or a pretense that does not represent actuality but has been invented.
The act of inventing such a creation or pretense.
A lie.
A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact.
The category of literature comprising works of this kind, including novels and short stories.
Law. Something untrue that is intentionally represented as true by the narrator.

criptik28

That's what I still use.

spankyj

Me too.

renaldow

My copy of that is marked as 'Fiction' on the spine, not 'Non-Fiction.'

movielib

Really. I know for a fact it was promoted as nonfiction. Also, it would seem funny that a novel would have the subtitle "A True Story." The Lutzes claim to this day that this stuff really happened to them. In fact, as many as eight Amityville books have been promoted, more or less, as nonfiction (for example one of them is marked nonfiction on the spine but on the copyright page says it is a work of the author's imagination!):

http://www.chatanuga.150m.com/Amitypt5.html

Josh-da-man

As I understand it, "non-fiction" doesn't necessarily have to be true in the strictest sense, just the subject matter presents itself to be true. There are tons of conspiracy theory books, UFO books, opinion books, what have you, that may not be entirely factual or even barely factual, but would still be considered non-fiction. Think of it as a journalistic style.

Whereas "fiction" is used to describe stories, things presented as fiction.

It's been ages since I read "Amityville Horror," but I'm thinking that the style of the thing was that of a novel, based on -ahem- true events. Which would make it more of a novel (fiction) than a non-fiction piece. Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" is described as a non-fiction novel.

movielib

Well, yes, much "nonfiction" is nonsense. And that was the simple point of my first post in this thread and a respose to the alliterative, mnemonic device, "Fiction is fake." Not only fiction but much nonfiction is fake. In fact, a well-researched historical novel (such as Colleen McCullough's Rome novels) have much less that is "fake" than the paranormal, mystical junk that is churned out constantly.

I'm not arguing with the way things are classified. People just need to realize nonfiction does not equal true (I think most do). Like you said, it means presented as true.

joelgee

What's interesting is that there is no English word (only language in which I'm relatively competent) that would be the counterpart of fiction. After all is said, do we, as a species place such a high regard on the imaginary, the made-up story, that we only provide a category for literature (in its broadest sense) that derives from human invention.
That which is not fiction is only defined by its negation, (non-fiction). It's like we lived in a place where you would describe the temperature as either hot or non-hot, not providing the opposite of hot with an identity of its own.
If the words we use define us, the users, does this mean that creativity and imagination are more important than reporting of facts?
I don't know. I was just wondering what it means.
J

Groucho

I'd expected about five pages of rants about Michael Moore by now.

renaldow

Fact is the direct counterpart to fiction.

renaldow

It really depends on how the publisher decides to market the book. Amityville Horror is a good example of this. If it was marketed as an actual true story it would be stocked in the paranormal section and sell a few copies here and there. If it's marketed as a 'true story' with a nod and a wink and marked as fiction (Or even as non-fiction, but with a suggestion that book stores stock it in the Fiction or Horror sections, which is really all the mark on the spine is for) it's going to be out with all the other mass market paperbooks and sell a lot more.

movielib

I found a copy of The Amityville Horror: A True Story and it is marked Non-fiction on the spine. It is a paperback, Bantam Books #0-553-13160-5 (which is also the ISBN Number), cover price $2.75, the "Bantam Movie Edition / July 1979." There are 17 previous printings listed. It says it contains the complete text of the original hard-cover edition.

Could you give me that information for your copy?

neiname

Which explains anything by Michael Moore

renaldow

Hardcover, 1977, Prentice Hall
ISBN: 0130327996