# Fictional nonfiction

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-nonfiction/338763>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 6, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-nonfiction/338763 "2006-01-06T17:43:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-nonfiction/338763/1 "2006-01-06T17:43:02Z")

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My sister-in-law got me a bunch of the _Series of Unfortunate Events_ books for Christmas. The stories are fictional, but the author insists that he is describing real events. Is there a term for this technique, when a fictional story is presented as if it were non-fiction? Can anyone think of any other examples of this sort of thing?

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-nonfiction/338763/2 "2006-01-06T18:12:14Z")

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> [@Diceman](#):
>
> The stories are fictional, but the author insists that he is describing real events. Is there a term for this technique, when a fictional story is presented as if it were non-fiction?

Lying.

No, I’m not being facetious. Authors do such things. It’s just fiction, after all. All fiction is lying. Read any of Lawrence Block’s books on writing.

There’s no formal name for doing this that I’ve ever heard. Suspension of disbelief is something else.

Authors have been doing the since dawn of time. Read the Iliad. Or the Bible. Or Gilgamesh.

I’m going to tell you a true story…

No, I’m not. I’m lying and I’ll make you like it and pay me for it. That’s what storytelling is all about.

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**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-nonfiction/338763/3 "2006-01-06T18:18:34Z")

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Do you mean that the narrator insists that the’s telling about real events? Over and above simply telling the story? Most novels involve the implication or conceit that they are true. I don’t recall reading one that starts out: “This is a novel. Joe Blow made all of this up.”

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-nonfiction/338763/4 "2006-01-06T18:24:35Z")

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"Come listen to the story of a man named Jed . . . "

I seem to recall a story (possibly by Cordwainer Smith) that kept saying, “This isn’t true. Pay no attention to it.” But that sort of thing is highly unusual. I’d guess 99% of all fiction is presenting the story as true.

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-nonfiction/338763/5 "2006-01-06T19:36:56Z")

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I think that when Daniel Handler, the author of the Series of Unfortunate Events books, makes public appearances, he apologizes for the absence of Lemony Snicket. So part of the game is that Lemony Snicket is a real person. Is that what you’re referring to?