Justin Hall’s been accused of over-fictionalising his life, but refuses to comment.
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rob wittig
The way in which the comments on Justin’s site spin off-topic (fictionalizing blogs) and out of control . . . from ad hominem attacks on, and defenses of, Justin . . . into little slap-fights about the definition of the word “probable” . . . to jealousy over Justin’s well-deserved reputation and value as a student to any number of grad programs . . . to the cherry on top of my reading as of this morning, the last entry of 11 May 2004 : 08:25 apologizing for unintentional offense that may have been given in passing . . . is both COMICAL and TYPICAL of our new writing world.
This single list of comments is a MICROCOSM — hero worship, hero jealousy, inability to keep on topic, wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve, quickness to take offense, putting out one fire while starting two others, on and on . . . a whole essay in one column of text.
Jill
You’re right – it’s everything compressed, isn’t it?
Elin
I can’t believe people don’t have better things to do. And all over “suspicious” admission dates – I thought it was pretty common knowledge that special rules apply to special people (even in Norway:-)
Justin’s life aside – I rather like the idea of faking your life online!
E.
Doug
Faking an entire life on line sounds rather exhausting. The man who tells no lies, need remember nothing.
Of course, as an exercise in writing ficition it would be rather amusing.
But then, what is the difference between “faking it” and “writing fiction”?
I did like the simulacrum gag in those comments, and the specious scandal-sheet article though.
greglas
It’s a strange little social drama, for sure.
What’s interests me is that (I think) he’s gone from being accused by readers of deceptive fabrication to being accused of *withholding* relevant and material personal information.
rob wittig
greglas, you’re absolutely correct. Nice going!
People feel they have a right to the lives of certain kinds of public figures.
As to the line between fiction and hoax, my favorite example is the classic English novel Robinson Crusoe, which was orignally published without its real author, Daniel Defoe’s, name, simply as “the adventures, etc. of Robinson Crusoe.”
Defoe wrote “Crusoe” as a response to a real account of a shipwrecked sailor that had been a hit the year before . . . and then turned out to be a hoax. Novel? Hoax? What was the difference?