Is mis lit dead now that accusations flying alot of it made up?

[christie1]

I read in yesterdays telegraph an article that said some big mis lit (misery literature) has been made up. In particular the book about magdelene laundries which was made into a movie was untrue. (sorry I can't do the link). Don't kill me here but I have never considered accounts of true events real literature because you are just recounting an event, like a news article, albeit, some do it really really well. I don't read alot of these books but the few I have read, get suspicious after a while if they go too far. I often wonder if you can come up with this stuff and write it well, why not just write a book of fiction (like james frey and the oprah scandal and his made up account of his drug addicted life-why didn't he just write it as fiction?) Is this the end of htat genre?

we can but hope.

Sadly I don't think it will make any difference. Most of the people who buy it are probably quite happy to believe it just because they want to.
Dave Pelzer's stories have been challenged by his brother, as have Frank McCourt's, but it hasn't made any difference to the success of either of them.

I really think that its the fault of the marketing folks at publishing houses. If they didnt' put so much stress on these books being classed as "biography", or "true accounts" then the question of stretching the truth to tell a good story, would never be a problem.

er, not that I think any of these qualify as "good" !!!

I can't think who would read them in the first place. Horrible.

Why, why, why do people read all this "Please Daddy No" shite? Stop buying it and it will go away!!

Did you know they have their own section in Waterstone's? I didn't until yesterday. It was 'Personal Pain'.

Isn't that a bit sick?

All the books had white covers and pictures of children's faces on them. It was really quite horrendous.

Waterstones.

They call it "Tragic Lives" or something similar in WHS. Horrible.

(And that sodding First Choice couple are still groping each other over there >>> . Go AWAY!!)

In WH Smiths they had their own special stand! Can't remember what the title of the stand was, walked away from it fairly quick but how weird to promote them so strongly!

They are orrible

It wouldn't surprise me at all that a lot of them are made up. Publishers are quick to jump on a bandwagon. And if not enough "real-life" stories were forthcoming....

I was trying to see the motivation in reading these.I think its about cartharsis. In the same way that folks pour over celeb magazines.
Its a bit like the literary version of ambulence chasing.

LOL at 'Tragic Lives'.

Because when you're looking for something to read, that's a real eye-catcher

Actually, I had a pretty unhealthy fascination with stories of martyrs when I was younger (good Catholic girl), but I did grow out of it...

I'd like to pour over celeb magazines. Hydrochloric acid, preferably.

Very good.

The magdelene one I read mainly due to my gran having been in a similar place and I wanted to know a bit more. A lot of the details of the things that happened are often true, just not all at the same time/the same person. The regime etc was what I was more interested in.

I don't think that the trend for them will die out because they aren't true - sometimes just reading that someone has a more shit life than you is needed, fantasy or reality.

In Foyles at St Pancras they are all in 'self-help'!

There was a lady (sorry forgot her name) who wrote a Magdalen-style memoir that was found to have great chunks of text paraphrased from many different novels after publishing. She claimed she had a photographic memory and had no idea she was doing it or had done it until it was denounced publicly as plagiarism.

I think they have a place in terms of historical research, eg the ones about institutions and particular social/ethnic groups. But obviously if you're doing research you have to take everything with a pinch of salt.

I think there was an article in the Guardian this weekend too. It mentioned the Oprah one and several others. God, I am totally vague tonight! I hate those bloody books! Why oh why would anyone want to read them, unless they had experienced something similar and were using it as some kind of healing tool. I attempted to read the David Pelzer one - look, it was years ago, don't judge me! - and it was really badly written too.

Found her, here we go.

oh i do so hope - don't read those trashy harrowing voyeuristic books.my local woolies has a PB best seller section, and the vast majority all tales of surviving some ghastly childhood - rows and rows so they must sell

I used to read alot of these books, i dont really know why, i didnt want to read the sophie kinsella (sp) et al kind of books and i thought i wouldnt understand 'real' books! I also wanted to be social worker and used it a bit as research, but honestly, once you have read one, you have read them all, and now i cant be bothered! I do still read the Torey Haden (think thats her name!) ones, because i am interested in her therapy, but i have discovered i can read real books now and i have gone up in the book world!!

I dislike the genre - the comparison with porn in Bucket's link is apt - but I don't think the fact that some people invent things in order to sell books means really horrible things didn't happen. The Magdelene laundries were a place where women were tormented for daring to trangress.

Donkey's years before this became a genre I read Helen Forrester's book, Ferry Cross the Mersey, and found it really moving. Mind you, I was about 12, dunno if it would have the same effect now.

In waterstones in Manchester I think the section is called "painful issues"! Was quite shocked when I saw it, it's emotional exhibitionism at it's worst.

Edam I read Ferry Cross the Mersey when O was 12 or 13 too and really liked it! Don't know whether it would appeal to me now though..

The absolute worst for me is Elizabeths Wurzels "prozac Nation" I know it came out before the trend for this genre but her COMPLETE narcissm and general unpleasantness drives me mad!! I read it because of my job (RMN) out of interest years ago but wouldn't go near it now.

there's another one I read for research purposes I think it's called coming out of the dark,written by a patient and her psychotherapist v v questionnable IMO. That was the end of my "painful issues" career.