The Life Span of a Fact

The Life Span of a Fact

The Life Span of a Fact espouses a detailed and extensive discussion between D’ Agata and His fact-checker –Fingal that delves into the thin line that exists between accuracy and truth in literacy and whether it is appropriate for an author or writer to substitute the two in literary nonfiction. In a conversation that began in 2005 following the suicide of a teenager in Las Vegas, D’Agata’ s essay presented to the Harper’s magazine was rejected because it had inconsistencies in the presentation of facts. However, the Believer magazine tasked an intern to fact check the essay written to determine what was true and false and from that engagement between D’Agata and Fingal, the original essay and annotations of the fact-checker are presented as part of the book.

The book centers on the relationship between truth and literature, especially given the fact that some essayists contend that nonfiction characterization and storyline should be based on a gray area between poetry and prose and not necessarily on truth. The significant assertion by the book is the fact that just because events or storylines are not fiction, thus not necessarily imply that they are factual. Hence, the main claims in the book are on where the line between the truth and accuracy should be drawn.