SFDA move to impose travel ban on workers of food outlets in the event of food poisoning    Move to ban on establishing zoos in residential neighborhoods    GACA: 1029 complaints recorded against airlines, with least complaints in Riyadh and Buraidah airports during October    CMA plans to allow former expatriates in Saudi and other Gulf states to invest in TASI    11 killed, 23 injured in Israeli airstrike on Beirut    Trump picks billionaire Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary    WHO: Mpox remains an international public health emergency    2 Pakistanis arrested for promoting methamphetamine    Moody's upgrades Saudi Arabia's credit rating to Aa3 with stable outlook    Al Okhdood halts Al Shabab's winning streak with a 1-1 draw in Saudi Pro League    Mahrez leads Al Ahli to victory over Al Fayha in Saudi Pro League    Al Qadsiah hands Al Nassr their first defeat in the Saudi Pro League    Saudi musical marvels takes center stage in Tokyo's iconic opera hall    Saudi Arabia, Japan strengthen cultural collaboration with new MoU    Saudi defense minister meets with Swedish state secretary    Navigating healthcare's future: Solutions for a sustainable system    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



History of memoirs finds scandal was not a given
By Belinda Goldsmith
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 09 - 11 - 2009

In his memoir, Andre Agassi has admitted to using crystal meth. Irish hurling star Donal Og Cusack came out in his recent autobiography. Sarah Palin's autobiography became a best-seller before its release. Dishing some dirt has become the recent trend in the memoirs that overflow bookstores with politicians, celebrities, people living an odd life for a year and even animals racing to share their lives with others.
Writer Ben Yagoda, a journalism professor from the University of Delaware who has just published “Memoir: A History,” said such candor was not always the case in autobiographies but memoirs do reflect the cultural zeitgeist. But Yagoda, the biographer of Will Rogers, told Reuters there is one thing about memoirs that has to stay constant for the genre to retain its power and popularity - the truth.
Q: What is the fascination with memoirs?
A: “People are interested in themselves so it is not surprising people want to tell their own story. The move to put it in covers goes beyond talking at a dinner party. But the question why should readers who don't know us be interested in our story is the big question.”
Q: Are there more memoirs coming out now?
A: “It seems there are multiple ones coming out every day. I have a Google news alert for the word memoir. But the subgenre that is not growing is that of politicians and celebrities. The A-list figures have already told their stories once or twice or three times. But it is in a large part a publishing marketing phenomenon. People write their memoir then get booked for talk show appearances. It all sounds very synergistic but in truth a lot of these books don't sell well.”
Q: What does work? Sarah Palin's memoir, for instance, became a best-seller through advance sales.
A: “People are often not responding to the book. She is a person in whom people are interested so the memoir is a tangible. Who knows how many people who buy it will actually read it, but the book becomes a tangible way they can express their interest in that person. It is kind of an emblem of that person.”
Q: Are celebrity memoirs new?
A: “No. In the 19th century prominent people and statesmen would write their memoirs. In the 1920s ghost written books about entertainers became a popular genre. But in those early days a memoir was expected to be a whitewashed, sanitized version of their life. Now there is an expectation of dishing some dirt and candor and gossip.”
Q: Do you think this number of new memoirs will continue?
A: “I think it will continue but it will ebb and flow ... A few years ago the non-fiction lists were full of best-selling memoirs but that does not seem to be the case any more. I think the trend it subsiding. I think we have seen the end of animal memoirs. That has to be a niche market. In terms of these misery memoirs where people write about their terrible childhood, diseases and ailments, there really is not much more to tell. But the celebrity culture is so much a part of us that the genre is not going to disappear.”
Q: Some memoirs have been unveiled as fabrications such as James Frey's “A Million Little Pieces.” Does it matter?
A: “It does matter. A great deal of the popularity of the memoir, be it by a celebrity or an author, is the feel that this is a true story and that carries a lot of weight and a lot of power with it. James Frey had written his book and tried to sell it as a novel and was unsuccessful but as soon as he said it was true it sold and Oprah (Winfrey) picked it up.”
Q: Can memoirs be totally factual though?
A: “They can't be 100 percent true. People's memories are faulty and there is an expectation that there is dialogue and who can possibly remember dialogue. But if there are deliberate fabrications and exaggerations then people aren't going to pay attention. It is not acceptable as a memoir.”


Clic here to read the story from its source.