Blog 5: Genres Matter

                I believe that genres completely matter. Therefore, a book should be completely true if it is going to be called non-fiction. Why? Because everyone likes to read different things. For example, I am someone who enjoys reading non-fiction because I think that stories become more interesting when they are true. Also, some people may use non-fiction to learn about the world and if children are reading a book that claims it is a true story about monkey’s who flew to the moon on a banana then the world will become stupid. I think half-truths are okay only if the book is “based on a true story” or fiction. I think that it does matter that Frey said his book was a memoir, even though he lied in it because if he lied in it he could have just said it was “based on a true story” which would have allowed him to avoid the negative publicity.

                I think Shields is wrong about saying that genres don’t matter. I think genres help people to decide what type of books they enjoy reading so when Shields asks, “Why does it matter to put the book in a genre?” it makes me want to respond to him by saying, "What is the harm in it?" I think his question is silly. The genre is not hurting the books story or making it not as good, in my opinion. If people think a story seems good or interesting they would probably read it regardless of the genre, but that doesn’t mean genres shouldn’t exist.