In Ten

Imagine being able to invent your life, or only tell the portions you like best, or at least be able to lie in order to show how you actually feel. It's not that hard, though, and it can all be done through art, both visual and written. Frey actually did this - through fake jail time he was able to "point across a plausible situation in which to frame his suffering" (395) - and it's actually pretty easy.

 With all the importance contemporary society gives reality shows, the mere idea of someone never having watched a single episode is basically implausible. The first reality show ever, The Real World, started out completely faithful to the name of its genre, but soon it gave up after realizing fake truths actually appeal to larger audiences, so other reality shows followed suit, and soon it became a rule followed by the entire genre: Fake reality (But shh, it works especially well if the audience is oblivious to this).

Memoirs are similar, not because they lie, but because they narrate only what the author wishes to reveal. This actually clearly resembles Michael Kimball's life postcards, which tell people's life stories after people narrate these to him. But just remember, if you're the one speaking you'll say only what you wish to reveal, so these postcards are just like memoirs: Their primary goal is to satisfy the author.

It's omission, after all, and "omission is a form of creation," (377) since it prevents a piece from being wordy. "It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what everyone else says in a whole book," writes Shields, quoting what was originally said by Nietzsche.

And I hope I was able to do just this with what I wrote above.