It seems fiction is fine unless a subject is raw—then we think nonfiction is required. We want facts. In his prefatory note to A Quiet American, Graham Greene wrote, “This is a story, not a piece of history.” It’s fascinating he felt he had to say that. As long as nothing appears to be outlandishly wrong—and often a decent author’s note reveals the research and intentions behind the book—I am happy to believe the story I’m reading might have been. Compare Dave Egger’s Zeitoun and Tom Piazza’s City of Refuge. Both books are about Hurricane Katrina, one nonfiction, the other fiction, both positively bursting with truth. Which you read depends on your preference as a reader, but one is no less true than the other.

Jessica Francis Kane, “Caught Telling Fiction”