The above Southern novel may not be by William Faulkner, but is a darned good story all the same.
Question: You said in a recent post that fiction writers are liars. That doesn't seem very nice. Why would you say a thing like that?
Answer: Actually, I was quoting William Faulkner, the penultimate Southern novelist, who came from an influential and deeply religious family in the South. Though they referred to the Civil War as, "The War of Northern Aggression," his relatives considered fiction writing was NO occupation for a gentleman and was in fact, nothing but "telling a pack of lies."
Nobel prizewinner Faulkner's, response to their embarrassment, was, "All fiction writers are liars, and the good ones tell the best lies. For a writer, when it comes down to a choice between the truth and a 'good story,' tell the best darned lie you can think of."
I don't think he meant any offense. Nor did I.
Amen.
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