This! Yesterday I was returning some broken throwing axes via UPS. The UPS guy asked me what was in the package, and I answered "axes". The UPS guy then asked me whether there was anything hazardous in the package. I said, well yes, axes. This is the kind of stuff you can't make up, and I guess what I took from your piece is that you can tell when fiction is made up and when it has a soul, based on stuff that actually happened. Or maybe a feeling inspired by stuff that happened. Or you can read Gone Girl which is NOT based on literally anything that has ever happened. Ruth Reichl's writing is such a good example of stuff that might not have happened, but it really feels like it did.
I was hoping you’d mention Death of Stalin! Funniest movie in ages.
This! Yesterday I was returning some broken throwing axes via UPS. The UPS guy asked me what was in the package, and I answered "axes". The UPS guy then asked me whether there was anything hazardous in the package. I said, well yes, axes. This is the kind of stuff you can't make up, and I guess what I took from your piece is that you can tell when fiction is made up and when it has a soul, based on stuff that actually happened. Or maybe a feeling inspired by stuff that happened. Or you can read Gone Girl which is NOT based on literally anything that has ever happened. Ruth Reichl's writing is such a good example of stuff that might not have happened, but it really feels like it did.