Telling Lies in Modern American Autobiography

Telling Lies in Modern American Autobiography
Author :
Publisher : UNC Press Books
Total Pages : 222
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781469639406
ISBN-13 : 1469639408
Rating : 4/5 (06 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Telling Lies in Modern American Autobiography by : Timothy Dow Adams

Download or read book Telling Lies in Modern American Autobiography written by Timothy Dow Adams and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2017-10-10 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All autobiographers are unreliable narrators. Yet what a writer chooses to misrepresent is as telling -- perhaps even more so -- as what really happened. Timothy Adams believes that autobiography is an attempt to reconcile one's life with one's self, and he argues in this book that autobiography should not be taken as historically accurate but as metaphorically authentic. Adams focuses on five modern American writers whose autobiographies are particularly complex because of apparent lies that permeate them. In examining their stories, Adams shows that lying in autobiography, especially literary autobiography, is not simply inevitable. Rather it is often a deliberate, highly strategic decision on the author's part. Throughout his analysis, Adams's standard is not literal accuracy but personal authenticity. He attempts to resolve some of the paradoxes of recent autobiographical theory by looking at the classic question of design and truth in autobiography from the underside -- with a focus on lying rather than truth. Originally published in 1990. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.


Telling Lies in Modern American Autobiography Related Books

Telling Lies in Modern American Autobiography
Language: en
Pages: 222
Authors: Timothy Dow Adams
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-10-10 - Publisher: UNC Press Books

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

All autobiographers are unreliable narrators. Yet what a writer chooses to misrepresent is as telling -- perhaps even more so -- as what really happened. Timoth
Light Writing & Life Writing
Language: en
Pages: 334
Authors: Timothy Dow Adams
Categories: Photography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2000 - Publisher: UNC Press Books

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

On the surface, the use of photography in autobiography appears to have a straightforward purpose: to illustrate and corroborate the text. But in the wake of po
American Autobiography
Language: en
Pages: 302
Authors: Paul John Eakin
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 1991 - Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This is the first comprehensive assessment of the major periods and varieties of American autobiography. The eleven original essays in this volume do not only s
American Autobiography
Language: en
Pages: 160
Authors: Rachael McLennan
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-11-26 - Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The first student guide to American autobiographys introduction to the major forms of autobiographical writing in America and important current developments in
American Indian Children at School, 1850-1930
Language: en
Pages: 268
Authors: Michael C. Coleman
Categories: Education
Type: BOOK - Published: 2008 - Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Drawn from Native American autobiographical accounts, a study revealing white society's program of civilizing American Indian schoolchildren