Anybody else sick of memoirs?

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Anybody else sick of memoirs?

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1LintonRobinson
Mar 13, 2011, 1:34 pm

Is there anybody out there who isn't breathlessly trying to sell one?

What I'm seeing is like "reality TV for readers"... all these people (OK, all these women, really) out there with their stories of surviving breast cancer, losing their husband while pregnant, seeing the kid turn into a serial killer, lighter side of the Lifetime Channel Disease Of The Week, and so on.

But of course, they aren't just weepathons for emotional voyeurs, they all have an important message that needs to be gotten out to all the other millions that suffer from spinal bifida or co-dependence on rotten dudes or whatever.

The last conference I attended I talked to five women under 22 with memoirs they wanted to sell. (Worse, I think one of them has a really good shot at it and pointed her in some directions)

So will this turn literature in Reality TV? Where scripted shows are sinking into the morass of Jersey Shores and all those White Trash Screaming At Each Other programs?

Just wondering...

2krolik
Mar 13, 2011, 2:48 pm

>1 LintonRobinson:

I share some of your weariness but it's not just a woman thing: look at James Frey or Anthony Swofford or Dave Eggers. All very different writers with different publishing histories and experiences in writing fiction but who, for better or worse, are part of the "based on a true story" fetish.