The Problem with Ben Mezrich and the Truth…
Are His Stories More Fiction Than Fact?
I want to begin by saying that I enjoy Ben Mezrich’s books immensely. Mezrich’s ground breaking foray into the world of nonfiction was “Bringing Down The House”, published in 2002 by Free Press. The book details the exploits of the MIT Blackjack Team, if you’re unfamiliar, it’s worth at minimum, a Google search.
The book contains the following disclaimer:
The names of many of the characters and locations in this book have been changed, as have certain physical characteristics and other descriptive details. Some of the events and characters are also composites of several individual events or persons.
I only include the above disclaimer to illustrate how, even Mezrich’s own publisher, treats his literary works.
Some of his other nonfiction titles include:
- Bringing Down The House (2002)
- Ugly Americans (2004)
- Busting Vegas (2005)
- The Accidental Billionaires (2009)
- Sex on the Moon (2011)
- Bitcoin Billionaires (2019)
I’ve listened to Mezrich describe his writing style on several podcasts and he’s ambiguous about the distinction between fiction and nonfiction to say the least. Listening to him speak about this particular criticism of his work, I’m vaguely reminded of Stephen Glass, the disgraced former journalist for The New Republic. Glass, famously reported events that were completely fictionalized and attempted to cover it up with fake websites, notes and business cards.
Mezrich appears to be comfortable assuming how events occurred rather than a verbatim account of the circumstance. Think less of a journalistic approach to writing and more a shared story amongst drinking buddies at the bar.
Janet Maslin, book critic for The New York Times, is no Mezrich fan and has lambasted him several times in her column. She has said that he is a “baloney artist.” I can empathize with her, but have a different take. Researching literary inaccuracies has been made easier by technology. I think it’s safe to assume that other writers have taken liberties with the truth to punch up a book or magazine article. Before the internet, writers tended to work off the honor system. Sure they worked with high-minded editors, but writing and writers were more nobly regarded in that time.
Some of his criticisms come from his characterization of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg. In Mezrich’s book, “The Accidental Billionaires”, he describes Zuckerberg and incidents involving him without ever having interviewed him and simply taking the word of individuals that had previously sued Zuckerberg and most definitely had an axe to grind. Today some people might feel like he was too kind to Zuckerberg in his description of his personality and integrity.
My Takeaway
Ben Mezrich’s books are an entertaining restyling of true events and I enjoy reading his works and will continue to. Entering into his books remembering the words of the publisher’s disclaimer allows you to understand exactly what you’re getting into. I’m a slightly cynical person and believe that, unfortunately this is the way of the current market. The film industry has adopted a similar method, using the, “Inspired By True Events” acknowledgement as a way for people to suspend disbelief I suppose. It seems a pointless exercise.
I sincerely hope this changes in the future with better systems in place to prevent exaggerations and in some cases, flat-out lies from being published. We’ll see…
