First Hand Knowledge

I read this amazing story that I want to use for my end of the year project. It's called Beasts of No Nation, and it's one of those stories that leaves you feeling gutted. The problem is that I read the about the author, and I expected him to have survived the situations he talks about or to have some deep connection to the topic. He doesn't. He is an American, and the closest he ever got to the situations he writes about were interviews. Somehow I felt a bit cheated. I mean, I recognize that the fact that the stories aren't a first hand account don't make them any less true, (and I know that Tim O'Brian is disappointed in me right now) but I can't shake the feeling that there is something not fair about writing such a powerful book about something that may or may not have ever really happened in the order or density that it happens in the writing.