Search Salon

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Recently in Salon News

Don't mess with Texas
New evidence in the Waco firestorm may have been leaked as a result of a tiff between the FBI and the Texas Rangers.
By Robert Bryce
[09/27/99]

The myth weavers
Three leading leftist figures have been exposed this year as having lied about their backgrounds. Has the failure of their ideology forced them to fictionalize?
By David Horowitz
[09/27/99]

Columbine: We stand behind the story
Although sheriff's officials have downplayed their role in revealing details about the Columbine investigation, no one has challenged a single fact reported.

[09/25/99]

Political circus
While other parties talk about the Big Tent, the Reform Party constructs the Big Top.
By Micah L. Sifry and Doug Ireland
[09/25/99]

Capital crusader
The World Bank's Joseph Stiglitz is articulating a new philosophy for global economic reform, and ruffling feathers at the International Monetary Fund.
By David Moberg
[09/25/99]

Complete archives for News

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - -

But let me be clear: by "I," I mean not David Corn, but "David Corn," a fictional version of myself who, via the "literary projection" method adopted by Morris (as opposed to "Morris"), had access to Morris (again, not "Morris") when he was writing "Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan."

As first reported in the New York Times, Morris, who previously penned an acclaimed biography of Theodore Roosevelt, writes in his long-awaited Reagan biography of a fellow who shares the name of the book's author but not his history.

The "Morris" of the book happens to have been born in 1912 in Illinois, where Reagan grew up. Consequently, "Morris" is a contemporary of Reagan, able to describe Reagan's exploits in high school and college, as well as reminisce about Reagan when Reagan was working in an Air Force film unit during World War II. (Fortunately for Morris, "Morris" bumped into Reagan then).

Morris the author possessed none of these real-time recollections, given that he was born in Africa in 1940. But Morris cites as source material the diary of "Edmund Morris."

Since history demands a rigorous aherence to accuracy, I shall be careful in recalling the encounter between Morris and "Corn." It was several years ago, at a writers support group. Morris had been toiling on the Reagan bio for years at the time, and he was frustrated.

Reagan had designated Morris as his official biographer while he was still in the White House, and had granted the author unprecedented access for that purpose -- which helped Morris win a $3 million advance for the book. But at our group meeting, dressed in a blue blazer and well-pressed khakis, Morris complained that he had been spoiled by this access.

He could write with first-hand knowledge about Reagan's time as president -- a privilege most historians would relish. But Reagan's earlier years remained beyond Morris' experiential reach. Morris slammed his hand against the arm of his chair and proclaimed, "I will find a way to go back in time. I will go where no historian has gone before."

Those who wonder how I can recall with confidence the exact words he spoke can find them recorded in the written diary of one "David Corn."

It is obvious that in this quest Morris fell too far under the influence of his subject. In explaining -- or defending -- his novel device, Morris has said that this style derives "from Ronald Reagan's own way of looking at his life."

Next page | "I remember mama, or was it papa? Auntie?"