Wednesday, 26 September 2007

Tragic Life Stories


I saw this book genre in Smiths the other day! I wonder why these types of books are so popular, is it that reading these stories makes us feel better about our own lives or is it morbid curiosity. Is the need to spectate on others lives in this way akin to the need some people seem to have for reality TV programmes, the news agents are full of magazines that detail tragic and sensationalised episodes from peoples lives.Even more puzzling is why people want to share deeply personal and often embarrassing information about them selves? It would be nice to think that sharing their experiences helped people to come to terms with the things that have happened to them. However I feel that it is more likely that they profit from publishing their stories and while I am sure many of these accounts are true there are some that seem less than credible.

1 comment:

MM said...

Cynical you! but I totally agree - they are in it for the money (and the chance of being 'famous').

The section in WHSmiths just shows how crap the shop has become in the last few years - it's no wonder that many people buy proper books on the internet when the highstreet shops are selling this rubbish - downstairs for magazines (for those who can't manage a whole book), upstairs for the books (for those who can manage them).