Unfortunately, by blurring the clear and critical line between fact and fiction, Morris has discredited his own contribution to Reagan scholarship. He has also polluted the stream of future works, which depend on the integrity of each preceding work. It is difficult even for those of us trained in research methodology to detect all of Morris's ploys. Professors are going to spend the rest of their careers reading student papers that unsuspectingly quote as real Morris's fictional characters, fabricated documents, and synthesized reminiscences. Not only are these unexplained in the text and footnoted, but Random House's brief mention of Morris's literary technique in the book jacket will not make it to most library shelves.
Primary evidence is useful because it is untainted by knowledge of what subsequently occurred.
It is not that valuable or interesting to see what Morris in the 1990s had his fake son pretend to say about it back in 1964. Reagan gave him, Morris's emphasis is misplaced. Morris chose to spend 409 of his 674 pages telling the story of Reagan before the presidency, and merely 113 pages describing the period when the biographer actually observed the President in action. Even worse, the reaction of the Reaganites and Reagan's family to the Morris book will have a chilling effect on future researchers. These critical oral history sources feel abused by Morris.