[ SECRET POST #6493 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6493 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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[Keeping Up Appearances]



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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 47 secrets from Secret Submission Post #928.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I generally scoff at anyone under, say, 70 publishing their "memoirs". It always looks like such a self absorbed move by someone who's entirely too far up their own ass.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm willing to give the lower age thing a pass if the memoirs focus on underdiscussed topics (such as how mental health is perceived in different cultures).

[(Anonymous)]

+1, sometimes younger people have something important and relevant to write about as a memoir. I recently read "Eggshell Skull" by Bri Lee, which was a memoir about a woman who was a trainee lawyer working in the Queensland legal system while trying to work out if she should report being sexually abused as a child. It was very complex and couldn't have been written by someone else.

[(Anonymous)]

NAYRT but this sounds really interesting. Thanks for the rec!

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT It's an excellent book but don't read it while you're in a bad headspace!

[(Anonymous)]

Maaaaybe, but honestly even then it should be from someone with a really unique perspective on the topic.

[(Anonymous)]

Or just someone who has already concluded the part of their life that people will want to read about. For example, I don’t think Jeanette McCurdy should have waited another 40 years to write about her experiences as a reluctant child actor and the complicated relationship with an emotionally abusive mother who has since passed.

[(Anonymous)]

I suspect the "really unique perspective" criterium may be more widespread than one might think. Likewise, sometimes a topic that's underexplored in any field may be worth covering in a memoir regardless of a writers age.

What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo comes to mind for both of these characteristics. While cPTSD is getting a bit more discussion these days, the factors of race and immigration experience are rarely touched on in the broader conversation. What My Bones Know helps to fill that gap at least a little bit.

[(Anonymous)]

For me it depends on how much life they've lived.

[(Anonymous)]

I may be biased, since I really enjoy memoirs and autobiographies, but a lot of interesting things can happen in a relatively short span. Though I do appreciate that writing about events several years (or even decades) after can change someone's perspective. But, not to be morbid, not everyone is going to make it to 70.
Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery (1901), died 1915, aged 59
Billy Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues (1956), died 1959, aged 44
C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy (1955), died 1963, aged 64
Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), died 1965, aged 39
Gilda Radner, It's Always Something (1989), died 1989, aged 42
Christopher Reeve, Still Me (1998), Nothing Is Impossible (2002), died 2004, aged 52
Patty Duke, Call Me Anna (1987), Brilliant Madness (1992), died 2016, aged 69
Anne Heche, Call Me Crazy (2001), died 2022, aged 53
Sinéad O'Connor, Rememberings (2021), died 2023, aged 56
Matthew Perry, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing (2022), died 2023, aged 54
Shannen Maria Doherty, Badass (2010), died 2024, aged 53

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for this list and the whole comment, was gonna say just this.
Matthew Perry instantly came to mind, I'm thankfull he did his memoir the year before his death, miraculously. He was a very interesting person so I appreciate a chance to read about himself and his life.

[(Anonymous)]

ayrt

Yeah, it was a depressing list to write, but important, I thought.