Why first ladies' memoirs outsell their husbands', the water bottle as status symbol, and it's unfair to sum up Barbara Pym as a writer of novels about 'drab spinsters pouring tea for the clergy'
I love Pym's Excellent Women, such a treat from a woman who had a really interesting life. I am not really drawn to the autobiographies of women in power. I prefer stories of women who have come through difficult situations and demonstrate resilience.
On the subject of First Ladies, DEAREST FRIEND; A LIFE OF ABIGAIL ADAMS by Lynne Withey is worth mentioning. She draws much of her material from Abigail Adams' voluminous correspondence. A central theme for Adams was "moral virtue." That theme makes her feel surprisingly contemporary in many of her opinions while not glossing over her social conservatism.
Thank you for mentioning the wonderful Abigail Adams correspondence. I haven’t read the Withey book but did read one that had the letters of both Abigail and John and so enjoyed it. Today people seem to know mainly Abigail’s, “Remember the Ladies,” but there’s much else to enjoy in her letters.
I've followed all of the fake memoir news with interest. From my perspective as someone mainly focused on Victorian fiction, it's hard to fathom why it matters whether the story of a life is a true story or fiction. I can understand why people feel lied to. If someone you know tells you a lie about their life story, it feels like a betrayal. But why does it matter if someone you don't know lies to you about something that won't affect you in the least? Isn't that what fiction is all about? When I read a story, I don't care if it's true or not.
Clearly, I'm in the minority here. Evidently there are large numbers of book-buying people who would not buy Belle Burden's book if it were correctly advertised as fiction. And that is troubling. If it's not worth reading as a work of fiction, it's not worth reading at all. So why would people buy it only as non-fiction and ignore it as fiction? What is it about the purported truth of memoir that makes it more interesting? I do not understand.
Even a writer who is earnestly trying to convey true information about herself must frequently get it wrong. As a trial lawyer, I know how frail and faulty human memory is, even in very sincere people. And that adds another layer of complexity. It's possible that an author write a memoir that is entirely truthful to her memory yet can be disproved from documentary evidence. I've done this myself in cross-examining witnesses at trial.
Thus, if I were a publisher, I'd abandon the memoir/fiction distinction and just disclaim the accuracy of any purported memoir. But that, I guess, is one of the many reasons why I'm not a publisher.
Thanks so much for this thoughtful response. I think you've put your finger on something that's going on with fake memoirs when you suggest, rightly, that many people might not buy Belle Burden's book if it had been correctly marketed as fiction or even what you often see instead: "based on a true story." The appeal of books like Burden's lies partly in voyeurism or Schadenfreude. When people are worried about losing their jobs to A.I. or automation, they seem to find a perverse comfort in knowing that they might suffer even if they were worth $63 million as Burden seems to be, as banal or trite as that observation is.
A different answer to your question lies in the publishing history of James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, the most notorious fake memoir of our time. A well-known publishing story is that his agent tried to sell the book as fiction, but couldn't and someone--his agent or a publisher--encouraged him to recast it as memoir. My recollection is that he was told that more people would buy his book if they thought was "true." It blew up in his face, but nobody seems to have learned much from that.
The Burden story and its movie version could be about to blow up further owing to the publication of the prenup and and divorce settlement. As a lawyer you know this, but for any nonlawyers reading it: There's a difference in U.S. libel law between publishing something you sincerely believe to be true and publishing something you know is false and with "reckless disregard" for the truth. The filmmakers now have to consider the "reckless disregard" standard, especially when not long ago a female chess grandmaster successfully sued Nextflix--which is supposedly doing the film of Burden's book--for an untruthful portrayal of her. What a mess!
Indeed, for the husband to sue for libel, he need only prove negligence, not recklessness, since he is not a public figure. Perhaps they can make the movie if they make clear that it's fictional. But I'm not sure how they do that or how they negotiate rights with an author who claims that it's not fictional.
Thanks for mentioning the negligence issue. Negligence is one of the grounds listed in a suit against Amy Griffin, author of The Tell, from the same publisher as Strangers. And even if the filmmakers try to say that the story is fiction, people are interested because they think it’s true. So where would that get you?
'Becoming' is a great book. Showtime did (attempted) a series a few years back, called "The First Ladies," which lasted one 'season.' (Yet 'Shameless' last at least four years beyond where it should have ended and 'Yellowjackets' lost it's mojo when it killed off Christina Ricci). The First Ladies focused on Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Mrs. Obama. A planned second season was to focus on Mamie Eisenhower, Edith Wilson and Nancy Reagan.
Thanks, Kent. Appreciate your perspective on Becoming when, by the time that one came out, my view was something like: I have paid my dues on first ladies’ memoirs and am not coughing up more.
I’ve never read a First Lady’s memoir and frankly don’t know how these sell. I doubt Jill Biden will be honest about any of the things we’d like her to be. I’ve no problem with her but it seems she likes to gloss over anything negative and say, nothing to see here! Which isn’t helpful when you’re trying to sell a book.
The Laura Shapiro book sounds actually interesting! Love a good used bookstore find.
Laura’s book is a lot of fun. One of her essays is on Helen Gurley Brown, the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan, and what she actually ate while suggesting how women should cook for men. The mix of subjects helps to make the book lively.
I love Pym's Excellent Women, such a treat from a woman who had a really interesting life. I am not really drawn to the autobiographies of women in power. I prefer stories of women who have come through difficult situations and demonstrate resilience.
On the subject of First Ladies, DEAREST FRIEND; A LIFE OF ABIGAIL ADAMS by Lynne Withey is worth mentioning. She draws much of her material from Abigail Adams' voluminous correspondence. A central theme for Adams was "moral virtue." That theme makes her feel surprisingly contemporary in many of her opinions while not glossing over her social conservatism.
Thank you for mentioning the wonderful Abigail Adams correspondence. I haven’t read the Withey book but did read one that had the letters of both Abigail and John and so enjoyed it. Today people seem to know mainly Abigail’s, “Remember the Ladies,” but there’s much else to enjoy in her letters.
I've followed all of the fake memoir news with interest. From my perspective as someone mainly focused on Victorian fiction, it's hard to fathom why it matters whether the story of a life is a true story or fiction. I can understand why people feel lied to. If someone you know tells you a lie about their life story, it feels like a betrayal. But why does it matter if someone you don't know lies to you about something that won't affect you in the least? Isn't that what fiction is all about? When I read a story, I don't care if it's true or not.
Clearly, I'm in the minority here. Evidently there are large numbers of book-buying people who would not buy Belle Burden's book if it were correctly advertised as fiction. And that is troubling. If it's not worth reading as a work of fiction, it's not worth reading at all. So why would people buy it only as non-fiction and ignore it as fiction? What is it about the purported truth of memoir that makes it more interesting? I do not understand.
Even a writer who is earnestly trying to convey true information about herself must frequently get it wrong. As a trial lawyer, I know how frail and faulty human memory is, even in very sincere people. And that adds another layer of complexity. It's possible that an author write a memoir that is entirely truthful to her memory yet can be disproved from documentary evidence. I've done this myself in cross-examining witnesses at trial.
Thus, if I were a publisher, I'd abandon the memoir/fiction distinction and just disclaim the accuracy of any purported memoir. But that, I guess, is one of the many reasons why I'm not a publisher.
Thanks so much for this thoughtful response. I think you've put your finger on something that's going on with fake memoirs when you suggest, rightly, that many people might not buy Belle Burden's book if it had been correctly marketed as fiction or even what you often see instead: "based on a true story." The appeal of books like Burden's lies partly in voyeurism or Schadenfreude. When people are worried about losing their jobs to A.I. or automation, they seem to find a perverse comfort in knowing that they might suffer even if they were worth $63 million as Burden seems to be, as banal or trite as that observation is.
A different answer to your question lies in the publishing history of James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, the most notorious fake memoir of our time. A well-known publishing story is that his agent tried to sell the book as fiction, but couldn't and someone--his agent or a publisher--encouraged him to recast it as memoir. My recollection is that he was told that more people would buy his book if they thought was "true." It blew up in his face, but nobody seems to have learned much from that.
The Burden story and its movie version could be about to blow up further owing to the publication of the prenup and and divorce settlement. As a lawyer you know this, but for any nonlawyers reading it: There's a difference in U.S. libel law between publishing something you sincerely believe to be true and publishing something you know is false and with "reckless disregard" for the truth. The filmmakers now have to consider the "reckless disregard" standard, especially when not long ago a female chess grandmaster successfully sued Nextflix--which is supposedly doing the film of Burden's book--for an untruthful portrayal of her. What a mess!
Indeed, for the husband to sue for libel, he need only prove negligence, not recklessness, since he is not a public figure. Perhaps they can make the movie if they make clear that it's fictional. But I'm not sure how they do that or how they negotiate rights with an author who claims that it's not fictional.
Thanks for mentioning the negligence issue. Negligence is one of the grounds listed in a suit against Amy Griffin, author of The Tell, from the same publisher as Strangers. And even if the filmmakers try to say that the story is fiction, people are interested because they think it’s true. So where would that get you?
'Becoming' is a great book. Showtime did (attempted) a series a few years back, called "The First Ladies," which lasted one 'season.' (Yet 'Shameless' last at least four years beyond where it should have ended and 'Yellowjackets' lost it's mojo when it killed off Christina Ricci). The First Ladies focused on Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Mrs. Obama. A planned second season was to focus on Mamie Eisenhower, Edith Wilson and Nancy Reagan.
Thanks, Kent. Appreciate your perspective on Becoming when, by the time that one came out, my view was something like: I have paid my dues on first ladies’ memoirs and am not coughing up more.
You *should* read it.
Remember when they used to tell us to drink 8 glasses of water a day? I haven't heard that in a long time. No one drinks water out of glasses anymore!
Ha. And some of those water bottles are so big, you could fit all 8 glasses into one of them.
I’ve never read a First Lady’s memoir and frankly don’t know how these sell. I doubt Jill Biden will be honest about any of the things we’d like her to be. I’ve no problem with her but it seems she likes to gloss over anything negative and say, nothing to see here! Which isn’t helpful when you’re trying to sell a book.
The Laura Shapiro book sounds actually interesting! Love a good used bookstore find.
Laura’s book is a lot of fun. One of her essays is on Helen Gurley Brown, the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan, and what she actually ate while suggesting how women should cook for men. The mix of subjects helps to make the book lively.
Loved this. Check out another gem by Laura Shapiro (a long-time friend and colleague), "Perfection Salad."
Thank, Jerry. I will check it out. You must have enjoyed working with Laura. She’s such a good writer.
Yes, and groundbreaking as a food journalist.
I think your reviewing Bush's Millie memoir in the voice of Skippy is a stroke of genius rather than an embarrassment. Woof!
Thanks, Polly. The review “By Garfield” was fun to read.