Everything about Misery Lit totally explained
Misery lit (
mis lit,
misery memoirs,
misery porn) is a term ostensibly coined by
The Bookseller
magazine
The genre
Works in the genre typically--though not exclusively--begin in the subject's childhood, and very often involve suffering some wrong, physical or sexual abuse, or neglect, perpetrated by an adult authority figure, often a parent. These tales usually culminate in some sort of emotional
catharsis, redemption or escape from the abuse or situation. They are often written in the first person. Roughly 80% of the sales of misery lit books are made not in conventional bookstores but in mass-market outlets such as
Asda and
Tesco.
Jung Chang's
Wild Swans (1992) and
Frank McCourt's
Angela's Ashes (1996) are also seen as seminal works establishing the genre.
Notable British authors of the genre include
Kathy O'Beirne,
Toni Maguire,
Lyndsey Harris,
Jenny Tomlin,
Duncan Fairhurst,
Cathy Glass, and
Julia Latchem-Smith.
Popularity
Misery lit has been described as "the book world's biggest boom sector". Works in the genre comprised 11 of the top 100 bestselling English paperbacks of 2006, selling nearly two million copies between them.
Criticism
Some of the genre's authors have said they write in order to come to terms with their traumatic memories, and to help readers do the same. Supporters of the genre also claim the genre's popularity indicates a growing cultural willingness to directly confront topics--specifically child sexual abuse--that once would have been ignored or swept under the rug.
However, a common criticism of the genre is the suggestion that its appeal lies in prurience and voyeurism.
The Times writer Carol Sarler suggests the popularity of the genre indicates a culture "utterly in thrall to
pedophilia". Other critics locate the genre's popular appeal in its combination of moral outrage and titillation.
A book by
Margaret Seltzer called
Love and Consequences, allegedly the
autobiography of a mixed race girl raised on the streets of
Los Angeles. It described in detail a life of drugs, sex and gangs. It received rave reviews in the
New York Times, but was later revealed by the author's sister to be a
hoax. The author was actually raised in a white middle class family and went to a good school miles from any
ghetto. It has been withdrawn from sale by
Penguin Books in the USA as of March 2008.
Also See
Further Information
Get more info on 'Misery Lit'.
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