Truth or Fiction: Voting by Memoir

Memoirs have been a source of raging controversy. Seems some memoirs are more true than others. But to me, a memoirist makes a deal with the reader: what I tell you is real, and you judge me by the stories I tell you. I think about this way too much because I am a memoirist. So when it came time to choose who would be the best leader of these great United States, I dove into the word-pools of John McCain and Barak Obama, these memoirists who would be president. I started with McCain's The Way to Bravery. First off, McCain didn't even write his memoir. And the book reads like it was written by the captain of the football team who had the smart kid do it for him. The facts are all there, but it's generic as a can of beans with the word BEANS written on it. The book's peppered with war stories, and he talks about America watching the Iraq invasion with shock, awe and a thrilling pleasure. It dawned on me as I read this book that the John McCain in this book is the archetypal American John Wayne male. A man who'd rather fight than talk.

Barack Obama did write his own memoir. Right off the bat, I like that. In the world of books we talk a lot about voice. The voice in Dreams from My Father is so strong and personal. A scene in an airplane to Africa, home of Obama's father, stuck in my mind. An Englishman bound for South Africa talks about the poor buggers of godforsaken Africa. Obama feels silent fury, but even in the midst of rage, empathizes with the man and questions his own basic beliefs. If anything, this is a man too stuck in his own brain. But a man with poetry in his soul. He seems to be the model of the new American male. A thoughtful, sensitive international man of the world.

I have no clue how the economic plans of either candidate will dig us out of this gaping gasping chasm. But memoir wise, Obama feels the real deal, while McCain feels a fake. I've heard the pundits pundicate that the authentic maverick John McCain has let his true story be edited to the point of fiction, so that he doesn't comes across like a man who wrote a memoir about courage. Obama, with his thoughtful, elegant prose, comes across like a man who'd rather talk than fight. A man true to his memoir.

Read more Election Day Liveblogs, Reaction and Analysis from HuffPost Bloggers

Comments

[musclemannnn]

i am happy somebody called mccain on his fakeness

[agmorehead]

hallelujah! saw a little thing on galleycat at mediabistro, and had to check it out. well said!

[bondyboyyy]

memoir? why didn't i think of that? smart. made me chuckle. me likee

[buzzlghtyr1]

it makes me happy to read this. he's right. it's a new day fro america

[pepequezz]

i love it! we won! and this article is the bomb. the o-bomb-a!

[miloknunk]

woo hoo! i'm still on a natural high. and while it was all going on i read this and it totally got me. this was the whole thing in a nutshell. sterry got it.

[grupchztch]

it's a celebration! and most excellent writing. pointed, sharp, funny and timely. keep it coming!

[imahrgtz]

i read obama's book, it's great. but i didn't think about how they reveal themselves in what the write. i'm so happy!

[heidiburg]

This article made me see the candidates in a whole new way. Totally ingenious, fun, funny and a blast to read.

[missyuvvtri]

fantastic article! entertaining and eye-opening. i did lose some faith in mccain after i read this.

[millyvvv]

wot a night last night. and as i saw mccain up there i thought of this article and how he didn't even write his own memoir. weird but in defeat he finally seemed human. i kinda wish he'd been real from the beginning, but that's show biz, right? anyways, thanks for this breath of fresh air! great post.

[jukebones]

all the stuff written about these guys and this is fresh and to the bone! good job. more!

[jacobsonti]

obamamania! and once again david henry sterry nailed it!

[zannamar]

I read McCain's Faith of my Father and Obama's Dreams of my Father. And as stated above, Mccain did not write his own book. Where Obama's book shows a search of self and a reflection of decisions throughout his life, McCains book showed a history of his life and a proudness of skating by life and blaming others for his failures without any reflection. Granted I favored Obama when I read both but I did read McCains first.

[ben209]

Good. As long as they don't fake anything about drugs and being in prison.