To Name the Bigger Lie: A Memoir in Two Stories
By Sarah Viren
“To Name the Bigger Lie is one of the most dynamic memoirs I’ve ever read. At the heart of this magnificent book is an incisive exploration of the concept of truth, a subject that, in an age of proliferating fake news, conspiracy theories, and coerced conflicts, couldn’t be more urgent.”
– Mitchell S. Jackson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
As Sarah Viren researches what she believes will be a book about her high school philosophy teacher – a man who taught his students to question everything, even, ultimately, the reality of historical atrocities – her life is derailed by a series of mysterious and frightening accusations against her wife, Marta, at the university where they both teach.
To Name the Bigger Lie follows the resulting investigation into Marta, and eventually into Sarah, as it upends their understanding of truth. Sarah is convinced the claims against them are lies, and as she tries to prove their innocence, she is drawn back into the questions her teacher inspired all those years ago: about the nature of reality, the value of skepticism, and the stakes we all have in getting the story right.
Part coming-of-age narrative, part psychological thriller, and part philosophical investigation, this unforgettable memoir explores the powerful pull of dangerous conspiracy theories and the pliability of personal narratives in a world dominated by hoaxes and fakes. Like the best stories, To Name the Bigger Lie is all the more riveting because it actually happened: an incisive, dramatic, and profound journey into honesty, betrayal, and the line between fiction and fact.
Sarah Viren is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and author of the essay collection Mine, which was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. She has been a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow and teachers at Arizona State University.