The Memoir I Voted For In The 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards

Dear Lit Loves,

Well, I have to say that after looking at the list of books that made the finalist list under the Autobiography/Memoir genre for The 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards, I was disappointed.  Actually, I almost didn't even cast a vote at all.  I'm not a fan of celebrity memoir or autobiography unless your name happens to be Julia Roberts or Meryl Streep.  I don't buy celebrity memoirs because I try to make my living via writing whether via teaching writing skills, editing, or attempting to get my own personal narrative/memoir manuscripts published.  Writing is My Cup Of Joe so to speak.  Celebrities have usually already made serious money by the time they or someone else writes the story of their life.  So if you are a television show host, actor/actress, sports star, musician, etc., you might as well hang it up if you are waiting for me to buy your book or for me to advise others to buy your book.  In my opinion, over half the books that made the final cut in the memoir/autobiography category on Goodreads were about celebrities.  There's a big difference between celebrity memoir and what I call "mainstream" memoir which is written by your normal, average Jane or Joe.  In other words,
I prefer memoirs like Wild and The Glass Castle and The Rules of Inheritance over anything by Patti Smith, Georgia H.W. Bush, or Mindy Kaling.  I want to read how "real" people who haven't already  acquired spoils and riches via another line of work handled life issues; people who don't have body guards, a weekly television show, a rock band, or who are already paid well for hosting a television network show.  The celebrity stories are important to a degree and I'm not taking anything away from them except to say there is a distinct difference between "celebrity" memoir and "mainstream" memoir.

So I voted for Hope:  A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland by Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus (with Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan), a memoir about how these two young women handled the experience of being abducted, held captive, and mistreated by a delusional maniac who believed he owned them and how they coped for years living in isolation with no one knowing what had happened to them or if they were even still alive.  Talk about having your life shattered and learning to live with trauma that will probably haunt these women for the rest of their lives.  And yes, I know they were in the news and covered by local and national media which did make them somewhat familiar to us all, but really, they were just teenagers living their lives until catastrophe struck.  Those are the stories that inspire me.  I will always endorse a memoir written by a "mainstream", "normal" woman who speaks openly of catastrophe, hardship, impoverishment, domestic violence, etc. and lays her bare soul on the page.  That's what we're lacking presently in the memoir category and that's the type of memoir we need to see more of, but until literary agents, editors, and publishers grasp the importance, relevance, and potential of these type of books we're just going to be bombarded with celebrity memoirs. And that my fellow book lovers is a real and total shame and a black eye for the publishing industry.

Until my next rant, review, or update,
Grace
(Amy)