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But that effect, whatever the truth of it, is an illusion.
Thats okayI think we can handle it.
I dont think those are crucial aspects of autofiction, though theyre certainly welcome at the party.
One question that I think is pertinent when it comes to autofiction: Whats more important, theautoor thefiction?
And I think the answer is: thefiction.
From there an entire fictional world can be generated, scenarios that never happened or people who never existed.
Guessing games can be fun, but theyre beside the point.
There are certain things we want from memoirs and from essays that fiction can indulge in without committing to.
(And I say this as someone whosprofiled her.
But its prime subject is the experience of taking psychedelic drugs, including acid, mushrooms, and DMT.
Why did Lin, having previously written a novel about characters who take psychedelics, move to nonfiction?
Some have judged that narrator is like a child or taken by childish notions of freedom.
Another critic asks, But is it possible that freedom is overrated, in life as in art?
We might also ask, is family life overrated?
Is life itself overrated?
(Aeschylus thought so.)
Certainly many novels are overrated.
And certainly everyone is going to have their own opinion on that matter.
Theres so much more going on inMotherhood.
Of course, why put them in at all if the answers were just made up?
These arbitrary (or fated) responses are some of the funniest things in the book.
Another thing about novels: Its all in the writing.
Heti wouldnt be so popular to begin with if she wasnt such an an appealing stylist.
Beside it, real life is trivia.
