A controversy

This book was chosen by my book group for January.  I read it last week and thought it was pretty amazing.  The introduction says that it is a fictional account of a real experience - that the fictionalization was designed to protect the privacy of the people she claims to have journeyed with.

So after hyping it up to several people - "You really need to read this" kind of hype - I did some research and found that there is a definite belief that it is a fraud!  There were also some very critical reviews that the book was poorly written.  On that score, I'm not sure I agree.  It wasn't great art, but it was pretty clear and easy to follow.  

On the other score, that it's a fraud and that the author made it all up, the jury is actually out, although the author did apologize to a group of Aboriginal elders who traveled to the U.S. with the help of the Australian government to prevent the book from being made into a movie.

I read 3 or 4 online reviews that were very critical, basically accusing her of insulting all Aboriginal people.  But I also read a couple of reviews that pointed out that the book is now marked as fiction, and therefore the accusation of fraud is moot.  

I was fascinated by the story - it's a quick read and I was eager to get to the end "to see what happened."  And she made a lot of good points of a philosophical nature that I found compelling.  But it is much like that story of a few years ago about the man who claimed to be a drug abuser who told a fantastic tale - he went on Oprah and she touted the book as a great story - I've even forgotten the title.  He wrote it as if it was a true story.  Turns out it was fiction. 

I'm not sure why people make up stories, pass them off as true, and then wonder why readers are upset when the truth comes out.  Why don't they just call it fiction in the first place?

But that's probably fodder for another story!!

Read this story if you want to - it does have some interesting twists and turns.  And frankly, if she did make it up, she's got a pretty vivid imagination!