What should you tell? What should you leave out? These used to be the most important questions for memoirists and for writers of all genres. However, I have come to believe that we are entering a new era where the boundaries of realism are being pushed to the limits by Karl Ove Knausgaard and others, including Michael Chabon, who said in an interview that his novel Moonglow was based on his conversations with his real-life grandfather. The book’s Acknowledgments say it’s based on Chabon’s great-uncle. What is true? What do you want to believe? are becoming the questions that matter.
Chabon, Michael. Moonglow. Harper, 2016.