The Lifespan of a Fact

By John D’Agata and Jim Fingal
2012
128 pages
Nonfiction

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Okay preachers, I am talking to you now. If you listen to preaching, you’re welcome to listen in.

Let’s talk about that special literary form that we shall call “the preacher story.” The preacher story generally has two characteristics:

1. It has some basis in truth or reality. It is based on something that really happened. It’s not a joke; it’s not a fable; it is a real life event.

2. It is told to create a certain effect and to capture the listener’s interest. Consequently, it has certain literary features that generally make the story more colorful and meaningful to the listener than the actual event merits. We might call this enhancement.

But of course the recurring question is, When does it cross over from acceptable storytelling technique to being something that is simply untrue? And does the reality that the audience will give the preacher a certain leeway—because no one wants to listen to a boring story, and everybody understands that such stories are enhanced—give the preacher permission to cross a line here that might not be allowed otherwise?

Do I have a book for you! It is not just for preachers, but also for any consumer of news and information today. If you have read a piece of journalism and wondered if the author was being completely truthful, or if you have a philosophical bent and wonder if one can change the facts in order to more clearly present the truth, do I have a book for you!

In 2003, John D’Agata wrote an essay that was rejected by the magazine that commissioned it because it contained factual inaccuracies. What we have in The Lifespan of a Fact is that essay with constant responses by the fact-checker, Jim Fingal. It is like watching a wrestling match on paper between two brilliant thinkers who are absolutely convinced they are right and the other is wrong. Fingal keeps correcting the facts while D’Agata keeps defending his altering of certain factual information to make the essay not just more compelling to read, but also (are you ready for this?) more truthful. That is, he argues that the most accurate presentation is not necessarily the most truthful.

Now, you need to know there’s an inequality of power here: the author is a well-respected essayist, while the fact-checker is just a fact-checker. The author intends to have his way.

So as we read the book, we get to see the essay change before our eyes. We get to pick a side. We have to determine for ourselves when a nonfiction essay (or a preacher story) absorbs so many inaccuracies that it crosses the line into fiction.

The book is only 128 pages, but it is profoundly thought-provoking and highly entertaining. If you’ve ever wondered about the boundaries of trying to tell a story well without tipping over into fiction, this is a book you must read.

By the way, did I ever tell you the story about… ?