Love the Way You Lie: Joe Mitchell and the Matter of Fact and Truth

Publications like The Paris Review and The New Yorker have long been bastions of the literary world. As compendiums of both fiction and non-fiction, many journalists find shelter amongst their pages, which is why the Joe Mitchell story seems preposterous, yet, utterly believable at the same time. Nothing shocks more than reality, yet, nothing is really shocking.

            Currently, there is a shift towards fictional memoirs, which shows an acceptance of possible truths, with stories recalled, crafted and marred by memory and enhanced with dramatic flourishes. Altogether, it’s another way of telling a truth, with the “truth” being the understanding of some human emotion or experience, in essence reflecting ourselves back to us. Facts are cold and hard. They’re the domain of science. The truth, though, is an ideal, which can be somewhat elusive, as it rings differently to different people.

            Do modern times require this modern storytelling? Is there such a thing as modern storytelling? A simple click of a mouse and one can turn to social media to find a constant stream, a “newsfeed”, which inundates followers with the instantly self-curated information of their friends, family, and even their favorite celebrities and pundits. A person can adopt the kind of persona they wish to present, posting and liking things, which give the best impression of themselves or what they want people to know. If something no longer suits you, a post can be edited or deleted. Though, the possibility remains the post may have been cached, therefore living on indefinitely, without your consent.

            Facts are constant, concrete and unwavering. They provide the proof in the pudding. The truth can be obscured or bent, and even ignored. If the purpose of nonfiction is to inform or explain a person or place in relation to the world around them and us, it’s not vastly different from fiction. Both illuminate the same things, in different ways. It makes sense fictional memoirs and social media are slowly becoming the norm, as the lines between fact and fiction have become blurred.

            It’s curious to know if Joe Mitchell had been working in the present day, what would his fate be. Would there be fallout, followed by a firing, and recounted in a memoir? Probably. Humans require story to explain, educate and even entertain. The fact remains, all stories, both fiction and non-fiction, contain the stuff of life, a truth, or the truth, in all its permutations, which imagined or not, is a vital component to our existence.