I'm pretty sure that if the memoir had been written by a man, it wouldn't have been called narcissistic or navel gazey, rather 'forward thinking' or some cliché like that. And to call the entire memoir genre a product of a narcissistic society, that's a stretch that sounds like click bait more than anything.
I do write memoir too (but my comment is completely objective, I promise ;) ) and I noticed my readers' perception: that I write to make sense of what I'm experiencing, or I write what happened to me the other day. Memoir is not a diary; it's not written psychotherapy. Memoir is a *literary* genre, and when done right is brilliant - like Educated, as you mentioned.
Also, this reminds me of a great essay by Melissa Febos, In praise of navel gazing. Here's a line: "Indeed, while male navel-gazing has been valorized as the kindling for many a Great American Novel, when the introspection comes from women, it is scorned as so much whining no one wants to hear about yet again."
Thank you for articulating my feelings about memoir and memoir writers. Which is not to say there aren’t ones I’ve enjoyed (books and people). In general though, my got response is to cringe. Like watching reality TV, which I can’t, or karaoke, which I also can’t do or watch.
Ha, I don't think I've seen karaoke in the same bucket as memoir before 😅
I actually really like memoir when done well. The other day I remembered Educated, by Tara Westover. Best memoir I've ever read. What an incredible, heartbreaking, beautifully crafted, and yes necessary book.
I'm pretty sure that if the memoir had been written by a man, it wouldn't have been called narcissistic or navel gazey, rather 'forward thinking' or some cliché like that. And to call the entire memoir genre a product of a narcissistic society, that's a stretch that sounds like click bait more than anything.
I do write memoir too (but my comment is completely objective, I promise ;) ) and I noticed my readers' perception: that I write to make sense of what I'm experiencing, or I write what happened to me the other day. Memoir is not a diary; it's not written psychotherapy. Memoir is a *literary* genre, and when done right is brilliant - like Educated, as you mentioned.
Also, this reminds me of a great essay by Melissa Febos, In praise of navel gazing. Here's a line: "Indeed, while male navel-gazing has been valorized as the kindling for many a Great American Novel, when the introspection comes from women, it is scorned as so much whining no one wants to hear about yet again."
Heh, so true. License to accept that my own navel-gazing follows in a long tradition :)
Thank you for articulating my feelings about memoir and memoir writers. Which is not to say there aren’t ones I’ve enjoyed (books and people). In general though, my got response is to cringe. Like watching reality TV, which I can’t, or karaoke, which I also can’t do or watch.
Ha, I don't think I've seen karaoke in the same bucket as memoir before 😅
I actually really like memoir when done well. The other day I remembered Educated, by Tara Westover. Best memoir I've ever read. What an incredible, heartbreaking, beautifully crafted, and yes necessary book.