Where do we draw the line between irresponsibility and poetic license?
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How much accuracy and authenticity is a non-fiction author permitted and where is it okay to take liberties large or small?
“The Lifespan of a Fact” is the record of a fact checker’s increasingly exasperated attempt to hold an author to a basic standard of accuracy and what the New York Times calls “the author’s increasingly defensive attempt to make him feel primitive for believing in something so superannuated.”
Their discussion on WNYC’s “On the Media” is a fast-paced and fascinating back and forth for anyone who has wondered about or struggled with the superfine line between fact and non-fiction.
