Download or read book The Unvarnished Truth written by Ann Fabian and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the "plain unvarnished tales" of unschooled beggars, criminals, prisoners, and ex-slaves in the 19th century. Fabian shows how these works illuminate debates over who had the cultural authority to tell and sell their own stories. She gives us the origins of that curious American genre of selling one's tale of woe to make a buck, ala Oprah, et al.