Comments on: Memoirs don’t sell?

By: Karik

Karik — Wed, 04 May 2011 19:04:27 +0000

I feel so much haipper now I understand all this. Thanks!

By: Tara

Tara — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:45:22 +0000

I'm reading more memoir than I used to because they employ a lot of the craft-related strategies of fiction and poetry, while talking about specific human experiences.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:29:05 +0000

That's surprising to me- I read a LOT of memoirs. In a good year (one when I'm not obsessively writing, i.e., a year that is not this one), I can plow through upwards of 140 books, and a good portion of them are memoirs. Having recently organized the list of books I want to read, there are over 30 memoirs on there. I love true stories that can place me smack-dab into another person's life. I adore a good memoir.

By: Sarah N Fisk

Sarah N Fisk — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:50:25 +0000

No, sorry. The only memoir I've ever read through the end is BORN ON A BLUE DAY, but that read a little more like a NF book on autistic savants than a memoir.

By: Hillsy

Hillsy — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:43:04 +0000

I find people who talk about themselves incessantly in the office rather annoying. If someone has the hubris to write an entire novel about themselves, I'm not entirely sure I'd find the person appealing to read about anyway.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:33:18 +0000

Although I love biographies, I don't read many memoirs or even autobiographical novels. I'm feeling particularly gun-shy since I recently took a chance on a celebrity memoir and read Marlee Matlin's I'll Scream Later. Dreadful.

By: Anne R. Allen

Anne R. Allen — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:18:10 +0000

Non-celebrity memoirs don't sell? So I guess that's why "Eat, Pray, Love" was such a total fizzle? As far as I know, Elizabeth Gilbert never married a Rolling Stone or touched the garment of Justin Bieber, but somebody took a chance on her, too. Congrats on the auction and fantastic deal.

By: Cassandra

Cassandra — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 19:10:20 +0000

None. Biography (of significant figures, not celebrities) occasionally. Sorry.

By: Bill Peschel

Bill Peschel — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:38:47 +0000

Generally, no, but I'm interested in true crime books, so I might be interested in this one. The true crime market has gotten flooded with paperback lookalikes, but I love the ones that feature a unique voice and in-depth research. This one sounds promising.

By: Rebecca Wells

Rebecca Wells — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:00:56 +0000

I definitely read memoirs. Not all kinds of memoirs, but I'm addicted to certain kinds, specifically travel memoirs, food memoirs, and writing memoirs. So really, memoirs don't sell? I don't buy it.