Talk:Flashbacks (book)

Inaccurate Citation

Robert Greenfield suggests that Timothy Leary claims (in Flashbacks) he had a 'sexual liaison' with Marilyn Monroe. In fact Leary describes no such contact as having taken place. I'm accused of creating confusion by correcting Greenfield in the Flashbacks article. I believe I was simply adding some balance to the article by allowing the reader of the article to check Greenfield's lie with his own source. Now when I've tried to resolve the issue by removing Greenfield's lie I've been directed here to the talk page. To 'FreeKnowledgeCreator': I've got Flashbacks in front of me here and I don't see any sex between Leary and Monroe. They don't even kiss each other.

I've little doubt that Flashbacks contains exaggerations and possibly lies. His meeting with Monroe may be one such lie. However, I'd rather include a more balanced biography, such as John Higg's bio than Greenfield's inaccurate, sensationalist guide. See for example Higgs, p.277, 2006. Higgs, like Greenfield, thinks Leary's Flashbacks is inaccurate but he seems to be a better source for getting his facts right. I'll add his own views in the 'reception' section in time.

Rather than having me type out the entire page from Flashbacks here to prove my point, please accept my own interpretation as being valid and offered as a guide to improving Wikipedia. A citation is hardly worth much if it's own (original) reference/source contradicts its content. For that reason, Greenfield's nonsense should, I think, be removed. I can only guess that you didn't have his source (Flashbacks) in front of you when you included his sensationalist mistake. It's hardly the first time someone's been caught out by an inaccurate source.

Poppy Higgins (talk) 05:58, 25 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for calling attention to this issue and for being willing to discuss matters on the talk page. If you object to Greenfield's assertion that Leary lied about having a sexual liaison with Marilyn Monroe, then the logical course of action would be for you to remove the following text (and only the following text): "most notably a sexual liaison with Marilyn Monroe", not to remove Greenfield's comments entirely, as you did here. FreeKnowledgeCreator (talk) 06:22, 25 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Good point, and I agree with the compromise. I'll have it done soon. Thank you, Poppy Higgins (talk) 11:14, 25 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Further clarification: In case anyone else wishes to dispute the claim made by Greenfield, please note that my own edition of Flashbacks is a first edition from 1983. I phoned a friend and asked them to check their later edition (1997) and it doesn't turn up there either. Not surprisingly a reviewer on Amazon claims to have checked all of the editions and come to the same conclusion. Poppy Higgins (talk) 15:55, 30 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The passage about Monroe is on p. 138 of the 1990 Tarcher/Putnam paperback edition. It begins: "May 1962, Hollywood California. The voluptuous intruder upon my sleep slid her hand under my pillow and rumpled my hair. "Come on," she whispered, "just let me have a look at you." The remainder of the passage is filled with direct quotes of Monroe using all sorts of double entendres; she is going to turn Leary on, she doesn't want to do it with anyone but him. She kisses Leary on the cheek, she buries her head on his shoulder, she gives him pills that make him hallucinate, then tells him they are aspirin. Sexual liaison is not that far off. Certainly all this is fantasy, pure and simple. Rgr09 (talk) 06:23, 9 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]