Letters: Feb. 13, 2006

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Your report "The Trouble with Memoirs" described the controversy over how much of author James Frey's "memoir," A Million Little Pieces, is made up and how much is real [Jan. 23]. Frey's shamelessness after being exposed for having embellished parts of the book is symptomatic of a much larger problem in American society. As your article pointed out, fiction doesn't sell nearly as well as nonfiction, and Frey couldn't find a publisher when he tried to market his work as fiction. So it was called nonfiction. Making a ton of money is apparently more important to him than being truthful, but the real tragedy in this case is that most people don't care. Liars and cheaters have been around since the beginning of civilization, but only now are they lavishly rewarded for bad behavior.

MARK STUART ELLISON

New York City

I am outraged that Frey's critics think A Million Little Pieces is only the work of a liar. Frey put into words the horror of addiction to drugs and alcohol. Who hasn't described a personal experience with color and drama? Frey has my respect for his selfless confession.

SUZANNE ST. JOHN

West Bloomfield, Mich.

Is It O.K. to Eavesdrop?

Joe Klein seems to think the Democrats are wrong to protest the wiretapping the Bush Administration is doing in the guise of tracking terrorists [Jan. 16]. Klein is out of touch with the U.S. mainstream. It's not just liberals who are objecting; many conservatives as well are concerned by the flagrant disregard of the law by Bush's approving wiretaps without a warrant or any oversight whatsoever by anyone outside the Executive Branch. Had the President followed the law, there would be no discussion about the wiretaps. If the investigations now under way indeed conclude that the wiretaps are illegal, approving them would be an impeachable offense.

CLARE DUCEY

Atlanta

Kudos to Klein for carefully making the argument that the nation will not return the Democrats to power as long as the voters don't trust them with U.S. national security. Liberals couldn't be any further away from getting voters' trust.

PAUL KNOPICK

Laguna Hills, Calif.

Klein's criticism of the Democrats was way off the mark. Liberals want to track down the bad guys as much as Republicans or anybody else. But government officials have got to get a warrant before they wiretap!

PHILIP DUVAL

Hamburg, Germany

While I believe that Presidential wiretapping for political reasons is wrong, the National Security Agency can read my e-mail and listen to my phone conversations all day long if it will help them find the bad guys. The government knows whom to be suspicious of. I am sure it is trying desperately to find terrorists. Why would it spend needless hours reading the e-mail I send to my mother? Please let the government do its job and keep us safe. After all, why do we have spy agencies if we can't spy?

PAM CAMPBELL

Houston

Above the Law?