Little Tree in Leather

Seems the distance from S&M porn to acclaimed touchy-feely "memoir" isn't very far. You even get to keep the brutal sex scenes, as long as they're framed as a victim's sad story.

Comments

[Eric the .5b]

This is why I much prefer fiction to biography.

[Eric the .5b]

People like Nasdijj...can't exist without some sort of complicity.

Is it not royally bizarre that the first guy to actually listen to people pointing out the inconsistencies, demand the truth from the writer, and dig in his heels when it came to presenting fiction as fact was a Hollywood producer?

And that bit from the guy's blog. "Follow the Hyena's path." Is there, ahem, much Navaho legendry about African animals?

[keith]

To draw a parallel, elitist coastal critics are probably equally suckers for fake sob-stories about fictional Navajo children as for "white-trash" blue-collar bowlers.

[trollumination]

Me, I'm just sick of misery lit in general. Don't believe it to be a very honest genre in the first place, but even if it was, I don't think it's all that great. It's one thing to occasionally let people know that the world is not as perfect a place as they imagine it, but I think the whole wallowing aspect of these books is really not helpful to anyone.

They tried to feed this stuff to me as a schoolkid, I remember, all those cute Newberry-medal low-vocabulary paperbacks about abused unwanted homeless or foster kids being drug addicted and infected with this new disease AIDS and stuff like that - and what was I supposed to think about that? On one hand be grateful for the family situation I had, and be kind to those who don't have as much as I do, sure I got that message loud and clear and totally agreed and still do - but on the other hand, these books seemed to me to be a threat!

I mean, all these troubled kids were in the situations they were because of adults in control over them. None of them had done anything intrinsically wrong, they were all passive victims. So I got the message that Authority can reduce you a very good approximation of hell, for no reason at all, for obscure excuses of familial authority or economic and political and social goals. Do Libertarians allow their children to read such books? Wait, I guess a true Libertarian would. Oh well, we can leave this open to discussion....

I never got into reading them, probably because the teachers wanted me to! They had the idea that these books were good for children, like eating vegetables or something. But to me, those books that I call 'misery lit' are all sublimated threats. They say "we could be addicting you to alcohol before you're even born, and fucking you up the ass right now! ha ha! we could be addicting you to heroin if we wanted, you don't even GET to MAKE a choice!" It's parental authority identified with worldly authority, all teamed up against our Miserable Hero/ine, and in the end isn't it just a Victorian novel without the moral? No divine Providence or plan or right and wrong, but simple Power that YOU DON'T HAVE.

Books of helplessness. Misery lit, that's what I call them.

Why would anyone expect factual accuracy from such a yarn? Any protagonist as helplessly victimized as the convention of these books demands wouldn't be able to publish a book - he/she simply doesn't have any survival skills whatsoever, they'd be dead, they're a totally unrealistic stereotype. The narrative convention of a magical regaining of backbone and purpose is still hollow. I don't expect literal truth in such a medium. Why does everyone get so outraged when it isn't found? Might as well seek literal truth in a swords-and-dragons book, or a cat mystery. It's a genre work. The misery genre.

[Frank_A]

Books of helplessness. Misery lit, that's what I call them.
...................
You should carve that one in stone, it's that good.
Unfortunately, this has a long and prosperous tradition in literature, especially "modern" lit.

Early examples that I can think of are Ethan Fromme by Edith Wharton and The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Had to read those for American Lit class for junior year in high school, HATED THEM BOTH, both "books of helplessness" where no one could solve any of their problems because they were "realistic" or some other nonsense. Bleh!

It's amazing that history, which shows the ultimate terror of humanity, is still less depressing than any of these books! I mean, compare the Holocaust vs. The Awakening, at least Isreal could send out the Mossad to assasinate some Nazi bastards while Edna Pontellier just kills herself...THE END!
It also probably didn't help that I was listening to a lot of Tori Amos while reading those books either...

[Frank_A]

Oh yeah, just remembered, I also read The Education of Little Tree for Freshman year in high school...was probably one of the worst books I have ever read...it's amazing that one of the most prestigious schools in Baton Rouge can still force it's students to read a book by a fraudulent racist.

And Jesse, nice allusion, gave me a big smile to see someone shit on The Education of Little Tree 🙂

[Frank_A]

HOLY CRAP!

ASA CARTER WROTE The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales (1976) as well! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Earl_Carter)

Very big delima, I am torn between my hatred of Little Tree with the bad-assness of The Outlaw Josey Wales...I am so confused...

[Mr. Nice Guy]

This type of literature is pornography, as far as I'm concerned. Some people get off by passively observing other people suffer, and even feeling "pity" for them. There's a huge difference between pity and compassion.

I remember being forced to read "Tess of the Durbevilles (sp)" in high school. Jesus Christ, that was an exercise of masochism.

[mediageek]

Misery Lit.

That's a keeper.

I couldn't tell you any titles, but I remember having to read that shit as a kid and thinking to myself through the whole thing "Hey, dumbass, do something about it."

Janie's got a gun...

[martin]

Thanks for that one trollumination!

It used to be fairy tales, often with the same thrust: "See how bad off these kids are. You could be next." Perhaps that's why I am so suspicious of "authorities'" arbitrary power.

Isn't it ironic, though, that fairy tales are viewed as much too "violent" for kids to be exposed to? And they "send the wrong message" too.

OTOH, the bland, touchy-feely, multicultural, politically-correct, safety-obsessed stuff that's published for the little ones is sooo annoying.

In the end it boils down to who muscles his way into power.

[dhex]

when i hear "misery lit" i think of graham greene and d. h. lawrence.

[Marbles]

Next you'll tell us that Oprah is really a man in drag and blackface, maybe Phil Donahue.

[Aira]

Thanks so very much for taking your time to create this very useful and informative site.