How "creative" can nonfiction be?

It is time for the Oscars and this year apparently three nonfiction movies are being examined in regard to their truthfulness toward the events they portray. This has created discussion in many arenas. One incidence is the film "Lincoln." Apparently the film has representatives of the state of Connecticut opposing a motion to free slaves and apparently this is completely untrue to the facts.

I came across this book in the local library a day or two before the Oscar discussions popped up. The title intrigued me so I pulled it off the shelf and gave it quick read-through. It is based on a real situation where the first author wrote an essay for a magazine that was quality writing but the author fudged on a number of the "facts." The second author was called in with his fine-toothed-comb to see if it could be salvaged enough to be published.

The book is interesting, funny and enlightening. There is almost no introduction, no conclusion. The pages are laid out with portions of the essay centered in the middle, and the questions and comments of the fact checker along with interactive correspondence with the author and the fact checkers boss. It is quite an accomplishment to make such material, with such a layout, an attention keeper.

I have wondered with the Josiah book and the Onesimus book if readers might feel uncomfortable about seeing sacred texts turned into lively stories (the liveliness especially true with Onesumus). I hope readers feel free to pass on any critiques of the material.

If we have presented anything contrary to the original documents we would certainly like to know. It seems, though, that the creative presentations have oiled many readers' rusty minds and inspired them to further study. This is the goal and reward of such writing.