Morano and the "creative nonfiction essay"

Michele Morano, an English professor, wrote an essay titled Facts and Fancy: The "Nonfiction Short Story" in which she discusses the possiblity of a new genre of writing called the "creative nonfiction essay" (Morano35). Morano states, "the short story is characterized by fancy. It is brief and complete, luring us temporarily into an alternate reality that displaces the world in which we live. In contrast, an essay does not so much warp the reality of the reader's world as ponder it (Morano36)."

While reading Sher's "The Man in the Well" I read it as a fictional short story, but then I thought back on Morano's essay and her descriptions of the short story versus the essay. I then reread "The Man in the Well" as if it were an essay. At first, I believed that this story could absolutely be true (hence its inclusion in the realm of realism), but then I came to the conclusion that I would not have wanted it to be an essay because of the unfortunate ending. I do not believe that Sher would write such a tragic tale if it were out of his real life childhood because it would obviously be too painful and terrible to write.

"The Man in the Well" certainly could have been an essay written about Sher's life as a child or it could have been something completely fabricated, but based in reality. This is where Morano's notion of the "creative nonfiction essay" comes into play. Sher could have taken a realistic idea or something similar from his life and written it as if it were an essay, but by inserting fabricated or exaggerated details he has made it fiction. If I did not already know the answer I would have believed that Sher meant this story to be "creative nonfiction" since it is so realistic. It is, however, completely fabricated and totally fiction. It is not based in reality at all. My source for that knowledge came from the Public Radio International broadcast This American Life, which featured Ira Sher reading his short story. The broadcaster made mention that it was entirely fictional.

The Morano theory of "creative nonfiction" would fit this story, but thankfully it did not happen to Sher.