Dinner Party Update

So, I had another dinner party which was more like a dinner party. (I actually got my sources to speak to each other). Spindel, who talks about reconsidering slave narratives from a psychological perspective, fears that memory loss and distortion can invalidate slave narratives. Yetman, who explains the Federal Writers' Project (from where Lester discovered these narratives) and agrees that memory does affect the stories. Even more, he considers something else that Spindel does not, which is the possibility that ex-slaves being interviewed by white reporters could be more likely to sugar-coat the tellings of their experiences.
The question arises of what makes Lester's book any good if he is using these narratives and I say that because of their cultural value they fulfill the purpose of Lester's book, which is to provide a more thorough view of slavery. Foster says that the stories are pretty basic and all the same; slave wants to be free and tells story of how he gained freedom. I replay to her with Lester's story of Charley Williams.