In this expanded edition of the popular Inventing the Truth, nine well-known authors describe in anecdotal detail the pleasures and problems of writing a memoir. Inventing the Truth is an indispensable book for anyone writing a memoir or anyone eager to know how authors impose an orderly structure on the disorderly experiences, memories, and emotions of the past.

This provocative dialogue vividly examines the expanding and innovative approaches to a literary form practiced by some of our most prestigious authors. Contributors address the pleasures and challenges of accurately rendering their personal histories. Some of the authors featured include Toni Morrison, Annie Dillard, Alfred Kazin, Russell Baker, and many others.