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Those are interesting questions outside of this discussion and they're covered in a thin book by Umberto Eco Six Walks in Fictional Woods, which is a collection of his university lectures, I think. Highly recommended.

Interesting Cat. I like Eco and I may look for that collection. Thanks.

And you make a good point about Amadeus. (Almost makes me question my opinion on these issues : ) .

If you mean that if the author twists the facts too far the novel will not be believable and therefore not readable, I agree. If you mean it's improper or unethical for the author to do that, I disagree. I mean, an author could write a book about Abraham Lincoln's experiences in World War II right? Why not? Go right ahead. Of course, it's doubtful whether anybody would be interested in reading it.

If you mean it's improper or unethical for the author to do that, I disagree. I mean, an author could write a book about Abraham Lincoln's experiences in World War II right? Why not?

Yes, I mean in certain cases it's improper or unethical, and your example is not one of those cases, but Brown's book most certainly is. I have a better example, which will probably confuse those who believe that a movie advertised as "based on a true story", is not fiction. (I think dramatizations are fiction.) Walk the Line "based on on a true story" of Johnny Cash's life. (I haven't seen it, it's not my kind of genre, even if I like Johnny Cash.) Evidently his first wife, or maybe it was her descendants, I don't quite remember who, didn't appreciate her portrayal in the film. Let's say she had a good case? Wasn't then the script's distortion of this person unethical and improper?