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Article: 'Tis the season to be sorry . . . with misery memoirs BOOKS: MIS-LIT Christmas literature strikes a melancholy chord
- Article from:
- The Sunday Herald
- Article date:
- October 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2006 The Sunday Herald. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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MISERY is on the literary menu this Christmas.
According to experts in the booktrade, during the season of
goodwill we can look forward to revelling in other people's
misfortune.
The "misery memoir" genre known as mis-lit which encompasses
harrowing tales of abuse, alcoholism, blighted childhoods and
terrible traumas, has been a moneyspinner since the 1995 publication
of David Pelzer's A Child Called It, which created a lucrative market
for legions of authors to capitalise on their painful pasts.
But this year misery memoirs have taken a new twist, say
publishers. A glut of celebrity titles detailing the ups but mostly
the downs of the rich and famous, seems destined to dominate the ...