"Memoir (from French: mémoire: memoria, meaning memory or reminiscence), is a literary nonfiction genre. More specifically, it is a collection of memories that an individual writes about moments or events, both public or private that took place in the author's life."
-Wikipedia Definition of Memoir
If a memoir is nonfiction, then why is it okay for writers to fabricate events to suit their needs? Sure, there is a line between slightly altering an event to elicit a particular reaction from the audience, but there's a line between slightly tweaking an event and creating an event that never happened. Thinking about "bending the truth", there's also a line between what can truly be considered acceptable for "bending the truth". My opinion, is that if the event is changed to elicit a particular reaction, and remains at the bare minimum 90% accurate to what actually happened, then sure. Bend it. But only a little. A bent truth is still a crooked lie.
Thinking about it, Dave Shields is right in a way. We still need genre lines, but only two. Fiction, and Non-Fiction.
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