Memoirs: Why You Probably Shouldn't Write One

New York Times:

There was a time when you had to earn the right to draft a memoir, by accomplishing something noteworthy or having an extremely unusual experience or being such a brilliant writer that you could turn relatively ordinary occur­rences into a snapshot of a broader historical moment. Anyone who didn't fit one of those categories was obliged to keep quiet. Unremarkable lives went unremarked upon, the way God intended.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[paperniche]

03:15 PM on 02/08/2011

I can't get over the fact that Mr. Genzlinger wrote that cheesy line about Allen Shawn-a composer is tone deaf.

[omegapoint]

10:47 PM on 02/02/2011

Chris Matthews fits that "never shutting up" moniker to a tee. I can't watch his segment on MSNBC in prime time because his interrupting of his guests, preventing them from getting their points across before he jumps on them is too much to endure. Everyone at Fox isn't any better
but I thought liberals at least had some decorum skills. These sorts and commercials are what the mute button was created for ....I'm getting really good with it.

[fredgladys]

06:41 PM on 02/02/2011

Most of us live ordinary lives, but ordinary doesn't mean uninteresting. I think it all depends on who the intended audience is. If you are elderly writing about your childhood, the area you lived in, the social mores of the time may be of interest to your ancestors. How many of us would like to know more about grandparents and great grandparents, what they felt as a kid, the games they played, what their family life was like.
I realise that these stories may not be worth publishing but they may be very valuable to our descendents.

[Terry Connell]

06:37 AM on 02/02/2011

Hmmmm....I've just self-published a memoir titled "Slaves to the Rhythm." and have received some amazing feedback. Here's one comment, "Perhaps the biggest revelation in the book is the oldest: the miracle of love. Both Terry and Stephan, and people like them, lend hope to a hopeless world. Sure, life can be ugly and messy... and people you love can seem to betray you... but the "Slaves to the Rhythm" can change the world for the better."

[DanielAdler]

05:05 PM on 02/01/2011

let's write fiction that acts as a good memoir, in the style of a blog: http://dadsinternetwarehouse.blogspot.com/

[mrs adler]

05:05 PM on 02/01/2011

I read two "memoirs" recently and I hated them so much, I doubt I will be positively consider reading another one. One was the sh*tty "Eat, Pray, Love" that impressed me in the beginning: who wouldn't like to live in Italy just studying and eating pasta and ice cream?. The last one was "An Education" by Lynn Barber. I've heard the movie is great, so it is normal to think that the book that served as an inspiration might be great too. My mistake. It is another tale of a woman who lives an, apparently, different and exciting life and feels the need to tell it.

I'm a young woman, but I don't know what's going on with this recent fashion of memois with the motto: "I am different, I'm a revolutionary because I do not fit (although they perfectly do) into society and its boring and lame rules."

[Honora]

08:24 AM on 02/02/2011

I'm an old woman & my life, though interesting to me, would be not so interesting to other's. The title of Eat, Pray , Love, was enough to turn me off. If one thinks their life is so interesting, at least be a good writer. They remind me of the old romance novels that were popular but bad. fan mrs adler.

[abliss2379]

04:30 PM on 02/01/2011

The Man in the White Snakeskin Suit is a stellar example of the last category. The author (don't have the book handy at the moment) recounts her father's life as a successful Jewish businessman in Cairo in the waning years of the monarchy, and his marriage to his wife, the impact of the revolution that ended the monarchy, and how the family fled, eventually winding up in Brooklyn, I believe. The author isn't even born until the last 1/4 or so of the book, though her bought with pediatric cancer requires she have a certain amount of importance.

[LisaCACO]

03:46 PM on 02/01/2011

amen. most people don't care about your life, your blog, your journal and certainly not your "memoir."

[medproof]

02:53 PM on 02/01/2011

Genzlinger is not a brilliant enough writer to get away with this ordinary idea.

[Amber Troska]

08:50 AM on 02/01/2011

Thank you. Whatever happened to just keeping a journal? If you need validation of your experiences through a large audience, maybe the experiences aren't worth as much as you thought.

[marignymitch]

04:02 PM on 01/31/2011

There go my memoir aspirations.

[VintageMary]

03:43 PM on 01/31/2011

Ive been shying away from memoirs for some time now, and Justin Biebers recent book is a prime example of why - pure narcissism.