In the end, though, the ghostwriter’s job is to hand over a coherent piece of writing that comes as close as possible to the subject’s authentic voice. This project would have been challenging, because I don’t think Harry would have come to him with any sort of rough draft, or anything written down at all. So the ghostwriter was responsible for everything from sentence and paragraph structure to overarching themes. The argument about what to include in the story of Harry and the fake terrorists shows that the ghostwriter was thinking of what worked best for the book while Harry was focusing on showing himself in the best light.
I think both Harry and the ghostwriter have reasons to not be completely happy with the book. It was always going to be a commercial success. But, as you say, the book didn’t help Harry’s image. And, while parts of it were engaging, the book wasn’t at the level I’d expect from someone who enjoys the reputation of being a very good (ghost)writer.
Indeed.
I suspect that Moehringer ended up not only being the ghostwriter, but also the editor, biographer, interviewer, legal advisor and PR-advisor.
Because when people want to write an autobiography, they usually have a pretty good idea about the tone of the book and what they want to include, include occasional stabs at someone if need be - and certainly what they don't want in the book.
Or the autobiography is "ordered" because the person is somehow relevant right now. That's usually a simple routine job. My favorite example being the Page-3 model Maria Whittaker who back in the 80s at the age of seventeen had her autobiography written and that included a whole chapter devoted to her budgie, no kidding!
Anyway, since I doubt Harry (or Meghan) came with anything resembling a draft or even a clear idea what message he really wanted to send and present himself in - it would have been left to Moehringer to basically do the whole thing himself. Everything! - And as we can gather between the lines Harry would at times have been difficult to work with, sometimes even provocative. So Moehringer may sometimes have felt that he wasted his time and talent - and with a deadline moving ever closer.
Now, Moehringer may be a brilliant ghostwriter, but that does not mean that he is a brilliant biographer, let alone a researcher, which may explain the odd inconsistencies that have been pointed out in this book as well as conflicting timelines. Moehringer simply didn't check or didn't have time to check, or didn't bother or didn't want a conflict with Harry (after all this is a golden egg for Moehringer as well) about inconsistencies.
If Moehringer is such a skilled writer as many people seem to claim, him having a difficult client may explain why a number of very irrelevant and often most unflattering things were included in the book. He simply gave up discussing these bits and he didn't bother or had time to wait for Harry to eventually call back, meet in person or stop smoking silly weed, so such things could be addressed, adjusted and perhaps omitted.
Because I don't think Harry had any idea of how time consuming and difficult it is to write a book, even if you have someone writing it for you.
How difficult can it be?
Moehringer just had to write down what Harry told him, add a few photos and run a spell check. Big deal!
I suspect that apart from telling his "Harry the Lad" anecdotes and going on at length about his mistreatment and misfortunes, Harry really wasn't that interested in the working process. Finding that pretty boring. And as such I also suspect that Harry at times had to be dragged in by Moehringer to deal with issues and how they were to be presented. Probably at times being reluctant to even do that. - After all he, Harry, hired a ghostwriter to write the bl**dy book, so just write!
So while Harry, no doubt at all, was most interested in telling "his truth", I doubt he was particularly interested in
how to tell it.
If it were me and I desperately wanted my message coming out, especially to a global market of potentially hundreds of millions, because I wanted to justify and vindicate myself, you bet I would be involved! That book would be my soul.
To me that suggests that Harry all his life has been used to someone dealing with whatever issues he has, without him being involved more than absolutely necessary.
- Had P.G. Wodehouse known Harry, he might have included him in his Jeeves and Wooster novels, as an archetypical upper class character.
And that's actually quite sad.
Thank you for mentioning this (as a person with Jewish ancestors and close loved ones, I found it particularly appalling).
