Article: Just sticking to the facts ; Rather than produce an unreliable misery memoir, David Carr has carefully documented his own life to uncover all the worst details of being a crack addict, dealer and drunk

The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life.

His Own by David Carr (Simon & Schuster, [pounds]14.99

A LOT OF addiction and misery memoirs have now been exposed as outright fakes. Love and Consequences by Margaret B Jones, for example, purported to tell the first-hand story of a mixed-race girl growing up among drug dealers and gang members in Los Angeles. It was a complete fabrication.

James Frey won fame with a ridiculously overwritten memoir of addiction and gruelling recovery, A Million Little Pieces. After Oprah Winfrey challenged him on her show, he had to admit that much of it was untrue.

These are drastic cases of deliberate deception, ...

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