[Ads-l] The nonfiction novel revisited

[Laurence Horn]

Or should that be *previsited*? Note this exchange from a previously unpublished 1920 short story “The I.O.U.” by F. Scott Fitzgerald that just appeared in the March 20 New Yorker; the narrator’s definition of nonfiction is provided at the end.
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   “Just when it’s selling better than a book of fiction.”
   “Fiction!” He responded angrily. “It *is* fiction!”
   “In a sense—“ I admitted.
   “In a sense? It *is* fiction. It fulfills all the requirements of fiction: it is one long sweet lie. Would you call it fact?”
   “No”, I replied calmly. “I should call it nonfiction. Nonfiction is a form of literature that lies halfway between fiction and fact.”

—p. 83
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LH

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