Articles: The Rise and Fall of 'Misery Porn'

When I first started working for a books department in 2003,

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  Amy

  20 Feb 14:33

  I’ve heard about that one. Although I think the fuss surroudning it almost made me want to read it more than I would if it was just another ‘recovery’ tale. Funny how things work!
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  Anna

  20 Feb 16:12

  Yes – I agree Amy. I have to admit that I’m more inclined to read A Million Little Pieces to see what the fuss is about. I wonder if Oprah’s condemnation of Frey actually reduced sales or increased them.
  I have to admit that I always take memoirs with a pinch of salt (perhaps I’m being over suspicious!) because I think memories do get distorted and it’s natural to embellish things to make them more interesting, even if you don’t mean to.
  I’d definitely agree with your point about getting rid of the ulterior motives though. I wonder if Hodder and Stoughton would consider donating the profits of the book ‘Ugly’ to the NSPCC?
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  Heidi

  20 Feb 17:13

  I personally think it probably helped him – everyone was even more curious after the controversy (I think it’s part of the ’what’s the big deal’ mentality that drives people to watch banned films or read books that cause huge uproars in society (i.e. The Satanic Verses)…

  The part that disturbed me the most? That there was some sort of social injustice that had to be appeased, that public humiliation that seemed to be demanded, the sense that he committed some major crime by ‘lying’ to the public…Even the most truthful memoirs have to contain some fictitious parts, as no one has perfect recall…It was just strange to see a public figure go on a campaign to first ‘save’ his reputation, and then heap abuse on him for his actions…