In 2003, an essay by John D'Agata about a man who committed suicide in Las Vegas was sent to Believer intern Jim Fingal for fact-checking. The piece had already been rejected by another magazine for factual inaccuracies, and Fingal found four major errors in the first sentence alone. Rather than correct the errors, D'Agata said they were aesthetic choices and refused to amend a word. The Lifespan of a Fact presents the entire fact-checking process, and the dialogue between D'Agata and Fingal about truth in essays that ensued, as a series of margin notes alongside the essay in a 123-page book.
Read Full Article »
