Summary

Chapter e is titled “reality.” In numbers 121 through 146, the text offers considerations of different perspectives on artistic interpretations of reality. There are references to experiences ranging from cameras broadcasting people’s lives from their apartments to recordings in which a confused musician’s voice is heard in the middle of a take. There are also references to how fiction often feels false to writers, and to how the best fiction has a strong connection to reality. There are examples of rules for presenting reality that some documentary film-makers feel they have to adhere to, and a description of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection that suggests the only reality about Christianity is that Jesus, “the last Christian died on the cross” (51).

In the relatively lengthy 147, the author outlines his father’s history in a writing group. He details how his father based the...