Lifespan of a Fact

How negotiable is a fact? In 2003, after publishing his book of experimental essays, Halls of Fame, John DAgata was approached by Harpers magazine to write an essay for them, one that was eventually rejected due to disagreements related to its fact checking. That essay which eventually became the foundation of DAgatas critically acclaimed About a Mountain was accepted by another magazine, the Believer, but not before they handed it to their own fact-checker, Jim Fingal. What resulted from that assignment, and beyond the essays eventual publication in the magazine, was seven years of arguments, negotiations, and revisions as DAgata and Fingal struggled to navigate the boundaries of literary nonfiction.

This book includes an early draft of DAgatas essay, along with DAgata and Fingals extensive discussion around the text. What emerges is a brilliant and eye-opening meditation on the relationship between truth and accuracy and a penetrating conversation about whether it is appropriate for a writer to substitute one for the other.