Journalists Speak Out

Joel Stein
Time magazine staff writer

"It's wrong and immoral to pass off a piece of fiction as a memoir, and I wouldn't do it.

"You know, I felt like he was a liar and a weasel. But the more I thought about it, I still loved the book. When I found out a lot of it had been made up, it didn't really change how I felt about the text. But it certainly changed how I felt about the author.

"I think people can sense when the detailed truth isn't true and the bigger truth is true. It doesn't excuse what he did. It's still wrong if someone lied to you. You resent them."