Orhan Pamuk, writing about Vladimir Nabokov’s masterful memoir Speak, Memory, noted that there was a particular ‘thrill’ for the writer who calls ‘something wholly autobiographical fiction, something wholly fictional autobiography’. When Nabokov did this, Pamuk said, it changed ‘the secret centre of the story’. The fertile interplay of fact and fiction animates a pair of books by the Korean American author Alexander Chee: one a collection of essays, the other Chee’s debut novel, published in the US in 2001 but appearing in Britain for the first time.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Easter flash sale:
10 issues for $1
Subscribe this Easter and get the next 10 issues of the magazine, plus website and app access, all for just $1.
- Weekly delivery of the magazine
- Unlimited access to spectator.com.au and app
- Spectator Australia podcasts and newsletters
- Full access to spectator.co.uk
Unlock 3 articles a month
You might disagree with half of it, but you’ll enjoy reading all of it. Try your first month for free, then just $2 a week for the remainder of your first year.
Comments
Easter flash sale: 10 issues for $1
Join the conversation with other Spectator Australia readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.
CLAIM OFFER 10 issues for $1Already a subscriber? Log in