Artful Truths offers a concise guide to the fundamental philosophical questions that arise when writing a literary work about your own life. Bringing a philosopher’s perspective to a general audience, Helena de Bres addresses what a memoir is, how the genre relates to fiction, memoirists’ responsibilities to their readers and subjects, and the question of why to write a memoir at all. Along the way, she delves into a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of the self, the limits of knowledge, the idea of truth, the obligations of friendship, the relationship between morality and art, and the question of what makes a life meaningful.   Written in a clear and conversational style, it offers a resource for those who write, teach, and study memoirs, as well as those who love to read them. With a combination of literary and philosophical knowledge, de Bres takes the many challenges directed at memoirists seriously, while ultimately standing in defense of a genre that, for all its perplexities—and maybe partly because of them—continually proves to be both beloved and valuable. 

"As a guide, de Bres has a lightness of touch that gives the reader plenty of space to reflect . . ." - Times Literary Supplement

"Anyone in the process of reading, writing, criticizing, or teaching a memoir should stop immediately, read this book, and then get back to work. De Bres asks all the right questions regarding this genre, and if she does not produce all the answers, she comes close. . . . Full of new insights into both the production and consumption of this popular form of personal expression, Artful Truths is must reading for those interested in memoirs of the past, present, and future. . . . Summing Up: Essential." - CHOICE

"De Bres, who teaches at Wellesley College, in Massachusetts, offers not a how‑to manual but rather a densely packed list of considerations — moral, ethical, aesthetic — that the would‑be memoirist ought to ponder when ­setting out on a life-writing voyage. A memoir, after all, is no simple thing. It demands an experiential truth, but unless you are recounting your life as a hermit or the sole occupant of a desert island (interestingly, the first memoir boom followed the success of Daniel Defoe’s fictional Robinson Crusoe), you rather quickly realize that your version necessarily involves other people. Therein complications can arise. . . . De Bres elegantly manoeuvres through different takes on the form. . . . At the core of Artful Truths is an insistence on responsibility — in the sense that the power for good or ill resides in the memoirist’s hands." - Literary Review of Canada