A variation on the "This is actually about me" trope that can work well: When journalists are exploring scientific studies and they become part of the experiment, or you view experiments through their eyes. I'm thinking here of Ed Yong in "An Immense World" (he does this a lot, and expertly IMO) and Zoe Schlanger's The Light Eaters (in which we marvel at plant intelligence through her eyes). I'm zooming toward a narrative non-fiction deadline with a lot of science, but for which there was no jet-around-the-world-to-talk-to-scientists budget and all my interviews (45+) were conducted over Zoom. The art of dropping the reader into the discovery, in which the writer may also be there but only as the reader's "eyes" or through their physicality, is an ART.
Your column is trickling through on deeper levels. The River illustrates the trope of fallng back (collapsing into) on a writing style we've used before that doesn't offer a metabolic container to what we're writing about now. It feels jarring and inauthetic, and as you say, prescriptive in a way that robs the reader of a new way of digesting and witnessing difficult material. Gilbert could have had a focus group say to her, "Go back to the drawing board; do this in a different way/medium/container." And she has the cred to say that to her publisher and receive support for redoing the work, which most of us don't have (under threat of contract cancellation). She can be such a phenomenal and genre-bending writer; not to find a new genre/method now feels like a serrated-edged approach.
I found the book extremely shallow and obvious (as well as a bit bat shit crazy) because of this framework. I think it is what people want from her though. So IDK if she needed to do it again. She, and her audience, seem pleased with it, you know?
Thank you for that! Your sacrifice of time and energy enables some of us not to pick that up. Of course it's on all the lists... although, I've read a lot of critical reviews, which is unusual (in the NYT, The Guardian, and Jia Tolentino in the New Yorker, whose review was acerbic and almost more damning by virtue of what it did not say directly- itself a feat of literature).
I think H is for Hawk is a good example of combining memoir and science and literature study, I read that book like 10 years ago and loved it! And I agree with your point more broadly :)
Thank you for that recommendation! One of my favorite phenomenons is the way someone else's creativity can catalyze our own, though in distinct and different ways.
I love any book with a good "How Did We Miss This" trope, and the more hubris the better. Examples (in my mind) are: The Achilles Trap, King of Kings, Demon of Unrest, Bad Blood.
I've recently realised I like "why the hell are you doing this?" I really like macho adventure/survival books because they are completely alien to me and how I live and I love the moment when I say "JUST GO HOME" out loud to my book.
I’ve just read The Wager and The Lost City of Z by David Grann and seriously, when everyone is being eaten by maggots and starving to death and there’s an option to just GO HOME why don’t you GO HOME.
First of all -- LOVE THIS. So spot on! I loved your take of the new Elizabeth Gilbert book on Glamorous Trash - I nodded along with you my entire commute. You've probably read (or it's in the pile), but Megan Greenwell's new book is a great example of a journalist telling a non-fiction story through multiple people -- gripping so far. You also included Wave in here - one of the best and one of the most gutting memoirs I've ever read. But so, so, so moving. I love all your recs!
I feel so seen. I was also feeling very bothered by the “this is actually about me” in Murderland, like I had no idea why most of the memoir portions were important/relevant other than being alive during the time and living kinda near Ted Bundy. But so many people I know who read it thought it was flawless.
I’m with you on the last point. Nothing makes me a slam a book shut like a self help disguised as a memoir . I’m also glad we seem to be past the girl boss memoirs
I would like to float The Numbered List Essay in an essay collection as a nonfiction trope. I think that must be one. Just realized two Stacks Bookclub picks had one—Bad Feminist and How to Write a Biographical Novel 💕
I tried so hard to find the episode (and failed), but I have this recent podcast memory where I’m positive you talked about the overquoting of Mary Oliver’s soft animal line. It made me wonder if that’s a trope too!
Hahaha it was about the Parvati memoir when I did my 15 min reads ranked. And I think that could be, but more so just an overused mention. Like quoting from BRAIDING SWEETGRASS.
In the same vein, I LOVE it when authors/essayists build a theme or make a point with Toni Morrison’s The Site of Memory Craft essay, especially the line “All water has a perfect memory…”
books that come to mind: Emily Rabotaeu Lessons for Survival, Magical Realism by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, South to America by Imani Perry
Yes. I think when authors use other authors more broadly could certainly be a trope, especially if they are using their thinking to deepen their argument in a really involved way. Love this one.
I feel like the "Nobody believed in me/us" trope is every Michael Lewis book that I've read (except for Liar's Poker), but I've read a bunch of them so it clearly works for me.
Yes. He is very good at that. I would say it even sorta shows up in the WHO IS GOVERNMENT book that came out this year. Not exactly but the vibe is there.
An offshoot of the "This is Actually About Me" trope in true crime is what critic/writer Sarah D. Bunting (who with Eve Batey writes the Best Evidence newsletter) coined "crime-oir." This true crime-memoir hybrid can really pack a punch, but it can also be really cringe.
A few others (that I don't have catchy names for)...
The "This Subtitle is Doing a Lot of Lifting" trope where an entire paragraph follows the title of the book i.e. "I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever" or "There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History."
The "Addiction Memoir" is sort of a subset of the "escape" memoir. A lot of good offerings in this category, but it can also get trope-y real quick.
Love these additions. I feel like the crime-oir straddles the line from being trope to being entirety of the book — but maybe you could argue that for some of the escape memoirs. It’s part of the reason I didn’t include addiction memoirs bc that’s the whole subject vs like a trope that pops in. Though, I could be swayed, for sure.
A variation on the "This is actually about me" trope that can work well: When journalists are exploring scientific studies and they become part of the experiment, or you view experiments through their eyes. I'm thinking here of Ed Yong in "An Immense World" (he does this a lot, and expertly IMO) and Zoe Schlanger's The Light Eaters (in which we marvel at plant intelligence through her eyes). I'm zooming toward a narrative non-fiction deadline with a lot of science, but for which there was no jet-around-the-world-to-talk-to-scientists budget and all my interviews (45+) were conducted over Zoom. The art of dropping the reader into the discovery, in which the writer may also be there but only as the reader's "eyes" or through their physicality, is an ART.
Yes it’s a total art! And yes author as test subject is a great one.
Your column is trickling through on deeper levels. The River illustrates the trope of fallng back (collapsing into) on a writing style we've used before that doesn't offer a metabolic container to what we're writing about now. It feels jarring and inauthetic, and as you say, prescriptive in a way that robs the reader of a new way of digesting and witnessing difficult material. Gilbert could have had a focus group say to her, "Go back to the drawing board; do this in a different way/medium/container." And she has the cred to say that to her publisher and receive support for redoing the work, which most of us don't have (under threat of contract cancellation). She can be such a phenomenal and genre-bending writer; not to find a new genre/method now feels like a serrated-edged approach.
I found the book extremely shallow and obvious (as well as a bit bat shit crazy) because of this framework. I think it is what people want from her though. So IDK if she needed to do it again. She, and her audience, seem pleased with it, you know?
Thank you for that! Your sacrifice of time and energy enables some of us not to pick that up. Of course it's on all the lists... although, I've read a lot of critical reviews, which is unusual (in the NYT, The Guardian, and Jia Tolentino in the New Yorker, whose review was acerbic and almost more damning by virtue of what it did not say directly- itself a feat of literature).
I think H is for Hawk is a good example of combining memoir and science and literature study, I read that book like 10 years ago and loved it! And I agree with your point more broadly :)
Thank you for that recommendation! One of my favorite phenomenons is the way someone else's creativity can catalyze our own, though in distinct and different ways.
Trope I Love: Presidential Treatment
Trope I Hate: I’m Famous-Adjacent But Don’t Dish Any New Hot Goss on My Famous Person
LOL your hate is mine too. Like babe I’m here for intel not you. Write accordingly
Great article, as always!
I love any book with a good "How Did We Miss This" trope, and the more hubris the better. Examples (in my mind) are: The Achilles Trap, King of Kings, Demon of Unrest, Bad Blood.
Wait say more. How did who miss what? I need more details but I loved BAD BLOOD so i probably like this trope.
The "This Is Actually About Me" trope is one of my biggest pet peeves! It's nice to know I'm not alone on that.
Not at all. It drives me crazy. Sometimes it can work/makes sense. But usually it makes me rage (or at least roll my eyes).
I've recently realised I like "why the hell are you doing this?" I really like macho adventure/survival books because they are completely alien to me and how I live and I love the moment when I say "JUST GO HOME" out loud to my book.
😂😂😂 what’re your favorites in that trope?
I’ve just read The Wager and The Lost City of Z by David Grann and seriously, when everyone is being eaten by maggots and starving to death and there’s an option to just GO HOME why don’t you GO HOME.
Ha I definitely was thinking that when reading Careless People. Quit your insane job and go home!
First of all -- LOVE THIS. So spot on! I loved your take of the new Elizabeth Gilbert book on Glamorous Trash - I nodded along with you my entire commute. You've probably read (or it's in the pile), but Megan Greenwell's new book is a great example of a journalist telling a non-fiction story through multiple people -- gripping so far. You also included Wave in here - one of the best and one of the most gutting memoirs I've ever read. But so, so, so moving. I love all your recs!
Not only have I read Megan’s book, she was a guest on The Stacks. Here’s the link if you wanna listen. She’s great. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-stacks/id1362164483?i=1000717480761
Yay!!! Yay. Can't wait to check it out!
I feel so seen. I was also feeling very bothered by the “this is actually about me” in Murderland, like I had no idea why most of the memoir portions were important/relevant other than being alive during the time and living kinda near Ted Bundy. But so many people I know who read it thought it was flawless.
Yes lots of people loved that one. I couldn’t get there.
I’m with you on the last point. Nothing makes me a slam a book shut like a self help disguised as a memoir . I’m also glad we seem to be past the girl boss memoirs
Those were the worst!!!!
I would like to float The Numbered List Essay in an essay collection as a nonfiction trope. I think that must be one. Just realized two Stacks Bookclub picks had one—Bad Feminist and How to Write a Biographical Novel 💕
Yes. That is for sure one. As I was reading your comment the Chee one popped to my head for sure.
I tried so hard to find the episode (and failed), but I have this recent podcast memory where I’m positive you talked about the overquoting of Mary Oliver’s soft animal line. It made me wonder if that’s a trope too!
Hahaha it was about the Parvati memoir when I did my 15 min reads ranked. And I think that could be, but more so just an overused mention. Like quoting from BRAIDING SWEETGRASS.
In the same vein, I LOVE it when authors/essayists build a theme or make a point with Toni Morrison’s The Site of Memory Craft essay, especially the line “All water has a perfect memory…”
books that come to mind: Emily Rabotaeu Lessons for Survival, Magical Realism by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, South to America by Imani Perry
Yes. I think when authors use other authors more broadly could certainly be a trope, especially if they are using their thinking to deepen their argument in a really involved way. Love this one.
I feel like the "Nobody believed in me/us" trope is every Michael Lewis book that I've read (except for Liar's Poker), but I've read a bunch of them so it clearly works for me.
Yes. He is very good at that. I would say it even sorta shows up in the WHO IS GOVERNMENT book that came out this year. Not exactly but the vibe is there.
oh awesome about to read that one! My Libby Hold finally came through.
An offshoot of the "This is Actually About Me" trope in true crime is what critic/writer Sarah D. Bunting (who with Eve Batey writes the Best Evidence newsletter) coined "crime-oir." This true crime-memoir hybrid can really pack a punch, but it can also be really cringe.
A few others (that I don't have catchy names for)...
The "This Subtitle is Doing a Lot of Lifting" trope where an entire paragraph follows the title of the book i.e. "I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever" or "There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History."
The "Addiction Memoir" is sort of a subset of the "escape" memoir. A lot of good offerings in this category, but it can also get trope-y real quick.
Love these additions. I feel like the crime-oir straddles the line from being trope to being entirety of the book — but maybe you could argue that for some of the escape memoirs. It’s part of the reason I didn’t include addiction memoirs bc that’s the whole subject vs like a trope that pops in. Though, I could be swayed, for sure.
Yes! Totally. That trope is in that book for sure. It’s such a good trope.