ABSTRACT
Paul Williams's song, "Telling the Truth Can Be Dangerous Business", in Elaine May's 1987 film, Ishtar. The author of personal expos is faced with the tough choice between telling the truth, consciously telling only some of the truth, or outright lying. Otto Kuss already knew that his telling of the truth might have dire consequences for him. If one already possesses the 'truth', surely no one can tell a different 'truth'. Those who would betray a tradition and its employer become heretics, those who would deny another's exclusive possession of the 'truth'. They not only endanger those who control the institutional nurturing of that truth but also are themselves outside of it. Telling the truth, especially outside the bounds of control, is indeed dangerous. The "bio-bibliographical genre" is not only "awkward", it can be distinctly dangerous. That is not sufficient reason, though, to eschew its employment.
