# I read a fiction novel, and I am convinced the author knows who I am **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2023, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109 "2023-05-16T03:52:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Michael\_Varn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michael_varn/32/14411_2.png) [@Michael\_Varn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Varn)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/41 "2023-05-16T22:28:57Z")
Wait a minute, you don’t remember the scene when Kevin Costner reminded James Earl Jones that he used his fathers name in a book about baseball? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Varn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michael_varn/32/14411_2.png) [@Michael\_Varn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Varn)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/42 "2023-05-16T22:30:27Z")
Sorry. I promise to do better next time. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/43 "2023-05-16T22:53:29Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > Wait a minute, you don’t remember the scene when Kevin Costner reminded James Earl Jones that he used his fathers name in a book about baseball? Let’s see… Joe Kensella “played in the minors for a year or two, but nothing ever came of it”. Terrence Man did have a character in a story named “Joe Kensella”, but it was a story called _This is Not a Pipe_, which appeared in the April 1962 issue of Jet Magazine. There is no description of the story other than “it is not his best work”. No claim that the story is about baseball. Ray went to find Mann because he thought a mysterious voice told him to take Mann to a baseball game. The man who played only one inning of baseball was Archibald Graham, who neither Ray nor Mann had heard of before his stats showed up for them on the scoreboard at the baseball game. If you wish to refresh your memory, the script is here: [https://imsdb.com/scripts/Field-of-Dreams.html](https://imsdb.com/scripts/Field-of-Dreams.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/44 "2023-05-16T23:22:44Z")
An uncle of mine showed up, by name, in a murder mystery. And no, he wasn’t the victim nor a suspect. He was the police chief of the town where the book took place (and where the author was from). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/45 "2023-05-16T23:33:36Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The man who played only one inning of baseball was Archibald Graham Who figures in baseball lore as [Moonlight Graham](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/grahamo01.shtml). I only know this because I’m a history buff.\* \*a graduate student once asked Mrs. J. duriing one of her stints as a reference librarian if she was a history buff. Reassured, he went on to ask her which war it was that was going on in 1944. He said he was a journalism major. 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/46 "2023-05-17T01:33:29Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > It’s interesting to me that at the end of the closeing credits of every single movie ever made in the USA, there is a legal disclaimer. > > To paraphrase: > > “Any similarity to any real events or real people, living or dead, depicted in this film is purely and entirely coincidental.” This is also normal somewhere in the front pages of most fiction books. I think it’s just basic legal boilerplate. I think once in a while somebody gets sued anyway; I don’t know how often they win. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/47 "2023-05-17T01:57:10Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > When in reality people see us as very different than we see ourselves. So much this. It’s often a shock to me when people tell me how they see me. But after thinking about it, I can sometimes see why they view me the way they do. In college, reading Pride & Predjudice for class and I just couldn’t get into the book for some reason. I was explaining my difficulty to a coworker and she changed my perspective by telling me to think of someone I know who could stand in for each irritating character. And boom, there it was. I was enjoying the book and laughing my head off at some of the people I knew at the same time. It was a great discovery. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/48 "2023-05-17T02:41:40Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > Wait a minute, you don’t remember the scene when Kevin Costner reminded James Earl Jones that he used his fathers name in a book about baseball? You do know that “Field of Dreams” was based on a novel, right? And the novel is straight up fiction based directly on a coincidence around names? The author of the book was WP Kinsella and the character is “Ray Kinsella” whose name WP (the author) took from a JD Salinger story because he liked the coincidence around the last names? And that the James Earl Jones character was JD Salinger in the novel but changed in the movie to avoid lawsuits? Basically, it’s ‘interesting’ because the author thought “hey the same as my last name, neat-o” and wrote something around that. The author deliberately used that sort of coincidence (the characters in the book aren’t like their real world counterparts at all) of last names as the premise of the novel, which is the opposite of the thesis of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/49 "2023-05-17T02:48:27Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > It’s interesting to me that at the end of the closeing credits of every single movie ever made in the USA, there is a legal disclaimer. > > To paraphrase: > > “Any similarity to any real events or real people, living or dead, depicted in this film is purely and entirely coincidental.” > > Can we agree that this is not always true? Every single movie? I’m not a lawyer, but I have a feeling that all the movies that are based on real people and real events do not carry this disclaimer. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/50 "2023-05-17T02:49:55Z")
Famously “Fargo” does not, though it is now known to be nearly entirely made up (there have been robberies before, of course and some of them may have been loose inspirations) and not based on real events or people, though if you check the end credits, it does have the standard disclaimer ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/51 "2023-05-17T07:54:02Z")
I’ve never written novels, but I wrote sales manuals and such. In the sections dealing with difficult clients, there may or may not be resemblance to people I went to high school with. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/52 "2023-05-17T09:28:29Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > The one comic I could never put up there was Dilbert because the jokes always hit way too close to home. Same. Also cannot watch The Office for the same reason. My user name is based on a conversation with my husband (January 2005). There’s an obscure comic character which appeared around the same time. I do not have a twitter account, publisher or website under this name, but they are out there. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/53 "2023-05-17T10:17:06Z")
It could be worse. Carly Simon wrote a song about me once. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/54 "2023-05-17T10:20:34Z")
I’ve read a metric ton of novels, but I’ve never come across a character that remotely reminded me of me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/55 "2023-05-17T12:35:51Z")
It’s definitely not always true, because they put it at the end of movies that fictionalize actual events. I watched “80 for Brady” the other day and laughed a little at the disclaimer because Brady and Superbowl LI (at first I was puzzled why they picked a Superbowl from a few years back until I saw the box score for that game and realized they used it for the “come back late from way behind” aspect) are very real even if many characters and events in the movie aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/56 "2023-05-17T19:22:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > An uncle of mine showed up, by name, in a murder mystery. And no, he wasn’t the victim nor a suspect. He was the police chief of the town where the book took place (and where the author was from). People in my writers group use each other’s names for minor characters in all of their work, but the person so named bears little resemblance to the character. Still it’s a weird bit of whiplash reading a manuscript where I’m the head of national security or something. “Do I really talk like that?” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/57 "2023-05-17T19:49:31Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > Iam not a Hollywood history buff, but does anyone know exactly when and why these disclaimers were included in the film credits? Just to circle back to this question: it actually can be traced back to a particular case – the 1932 MGM film _Rasputin and the Empress_. As described in Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > The disclaimer came as a result of litigation against the 1932 [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) (MGM) film _[Rasputin and the Empress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasputin_and_the_Empress)_, which insinuated that the character Princess Natasha had been raped by Russian mystic [Rasputin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasputin). The character of Natasha was supposedly intended to represent [Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Irina_Alexandrovna_of_Russia), who [sued](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawsuit) MGM for [libel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libel). After seeing the film twice, the jury agreed that the princess had been defamed.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_persons_fictitious_disclaimer#cite_note-stanford1-1)[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_persons_fictitious_disclaimer#cite_note-autogenerated1-2) Irina and her husband [Felix Yusupov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Yusupov) were reportedly awarded $127,373 (equivalent to $2,580,000 in 2021) in damages by the [English Court of Appeal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Court_of_Appeal) in 1934, and $1,000,000 (equivalent to $20,000,000 in 2021) in an out-of-court [settlement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settlement_(litigation)) with MGM.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_persons_fictitious_disclaimer#cite_note-stanford1-1)[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_persons_fictitious_disclaimer#cite_note-autogenerated1-2) As a preventive measure against further [lawsuits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawsuit), the film was taken out of distribution for decades.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_persons_fictitious_disclaimer#cite_note-autogenerated1-2) > > The film began with a claim that “This concerns the destruction of an empire … A few of the characters are still alive—the rest met death by violence.” Reportedly, a judge in the case told MGM that not only was this claim damaging to their case, but that their case would be stronger if they had incorporated a directly opposite statement, that the film was not intended as an accurate portrayal of real people or events.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_persons_fictitious_disclaimer#cite_note-3) Prompted by the outcome of this case, many studios began to incorporate an “all persons fictitious” disclaimer in their films, to protect themselves from similar court action. The article also notes this: > [@](#): > > If a fictitious film is perceived to be too close to actual events, the disclaimer may be ruled null and void in court and the inspiration behind the film may be due compensation. Such was the case with the 1980 film _[The Idolmaker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Idolmaker)_ , which was based on a fictional talent promoter who discovers a talentless teenage boy and turns him into a manufactured star. Singer [Fabian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_Forte), whose career path was very similar to the fictional boy’s, took offense at the caricature, and the production company responded with the all persons fictitious disclaimer. As the promoter on which the fictional character was based, [Bob Marcucci](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marcucci), was part of the production staff (and thus it could not be plausibly denied that actual events inspired the film), Fabian ultimately received a settlement granting a minority stake in the film’s profits.[[11]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_persons_fictitious_disclaimer#cite_note-11)[[12]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_persons_fictitious_disclaimer#cite_note-storyofthestars.com-12) > **[All persons fictitious disclaimer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_persons_fictitious_disclaimer)** > > An "all persons fictitious" disclaimer in a work of media states that the persons portrayed in it are not based on real people. This is done mostly on realistic films and television programs to reduce the possibility of legal action for libel from any person who believes that they have been defamed by their portrayal in the work, whether portrayed under their real name or a different name. The wording of this disclaimer varies, and differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, as does its legal ef... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/58 "2023-05-17T22:41:31Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > People in my writers group use each other’s names for minor characters in all of their work, but the person so named bears little resemblance to the character. No, this isn’t what I was saying. My uncle is (or was; I’m sure he’s retired by now) the actual police chief of that actual town. And so when the author, also from that actual town, wrote a fictional murder mystery set in that town, he used the actual name of the actual police chief, for local flavor. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/59 "2023-05-17T23:05:51Z")
Now the OP would be _really_ impressed if your author had used the name of an actual local person from your town for the victim and for the killer and then the bok-named victim had actually turned up dead IRL. In which case the local police chief should probably interview both the book’s killer and the book’s author; they’re probably in cahoots. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109/60 "2023-05-17T23:27:02Z")
A corollary that I keep falling for here is “Omigosh, the poster that showed up with the witty reply in that thread? I swear that’s Chucko, my roommate in the Phi Sig house at Slippery Rock State Teacher’s College! _No one else_ would use his catchphrase ‘Random Guttural Anglo-Celtic Obscenities’! Let me just check the poster’s name … **CDPM**!?! Whoa! Those were Chucko’s real-life initials!” But ten minutes of going through his past posts, and it’s clear that _this_ **CDPM** is a Brit living in Digby, NS, not a priest in Chagrin Falls, OH. Hey, I’m not delusional… I’ve only done this about once a year (but that means twenty times). . Side note: @Tibby, why are you trying so hard to hide the fact that you’re Tibby Welcomer from Wauwatosa, who I spent nine days with on our “Let’s take a raft down the Mississippi” scouting trip? All those facts, like that you grew up over 2000 miles from there, isn’t fooling anyone… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-read-a-fiction-novel-and-i-am-convinced-the-author-knows-who-i-am/984109.md?page=4)