The difference between creative nonfiction and fiction is unpretentious: Fiction derives from the figments of an author's imagination, while creative nonfiction depends on facts. A novelist has the freedom to create scenes that never existed, while a creative nonfiction author must convey a truthful story. However, the line between creative nonfiction and fiction, between fact and falsehood, has become increasingly thin as “memoir writers [have] been revealed to be impostors and fiction writers masquerade as memoirists to sell books” (Bradley 203) . Recent events have revealed that authors such as James Frey and Tim Barrus have combined elements of fiction and nonfiction in their creative nonfiction books (Buck 56), further blurring this line. Careless embellishments and entire inventions were found to exist within their supposedly creative nonfiction works, sparking angst within the nonfiction community (Bradley 208). Accusations arose and investigations followed, all centering on the question: Who is to blame? As a result, the entire genre of creative nonfiction has received negative publicity and harsh criticism (Bradley 203). In order for creative nonfiction to restore its legitimacy and truthfulness as a genre, authors, not publishers, must be held accountable for ensuring that their creative nonfiction books are truthful. Creative nonfiction, often labeled the “fourth genre” (Bradley 203), requires the portrayal of real events and happenings through past memories, with a literary twist. Books in this genre include memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies. However, memory is malleable and fades. Therefore, authors have some leeway in this sense and to be "truthful" means an author who remembers and portrays p...... half of the paper ...... a. For authors to knowingly deceive readers through a creative nonfiction medium is to rob readers of the intrinsic connection and empathy felt towards the story. The story becomes significantly less powerful and not as personally important to the reader. It is then dismissed as fiction, a false fairy tale once lost in the realm of nonfiction. Writers of creative nonfiction books must therefore write truthfully to ensure that creative nonfiction books are truthful. This is the only practical approach to creating true creative nonfiction books. Fact-checking is too burdensome a practice when applied to the book publishing industry and avoids the inherent problem at hand: deceptive authors. Because the problem is not the narrative itself created by these authors, but the deception, the theft of unsuspecting readers, that created this whole mess in the first place..