The Cathartic Memoir – I’ve journeyed from contempt to enthusiasm

 Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Why write and publish a memoir? This Blog Post dedicated to Julien and others labouring to write their memoirs and asking themselves the question “will anyone be interested?”

What is a Misery Memoir? This is a derogatory term invented by the traditional publishing industry to denigrate the validity and efficacy of a memoir that has a narrative – telling a story – of an individual’s suffering or experience of injustice caused by the actions of others. In discussion with a traditional publishing colleague he remarked “the industry needs to purge itself from the Misery Memoir.”  In contrast, my view on the so called Misery Memoir has radically changed from contempt, to acceptance, to enthusiasm. As a company that facilitates the publishing of memoirs, I’ve thought long and hard about where these books fit in the publishing landscape.

They can be enormously popular. Ironically Prince Harry’s traditionally published Spare, was a narrative of how he was wronged by the very people closest to him, the institution of the royal family, and the media. The book is the fastest selling non-fiction in world history, selling around 6 million copies to date (since its release in 2022). In the first day the book sold 1.43 million copies. Why? I read the book and found it distasteful and quite annoying. But I sort of enjoyed reading it, devouring its bulk in a couple of days. It was biased and negative but at the same time an enjoyable read.

My conversion to the validity of the Misery Memoir came through a fuller understanding of why reading these can actually be a feel-good. Sometimes it’s an insight into other people’s unreasonable behaviour and poor thought patterns, including bitterness, jealousy and resentment… ‘how can people think like that’. This can justify my dislike of the book’s writer, but most importantly it can be an exercise in empathy… ‘Harry’s experience is a little like mine’.

My fresh understanding was validated when I read Aristotle’s Poetics, in which he coined the term catharsis. When we complain about other people’s behaviour behind their backs it can be cathartic, especially when others in the conversation have a similar complaint. Don’t judge me! This is common to human experience and you know what I’m talking about. In one corporate setting – when I worked at a university –  meetings sometimes strayed into vicious critiques of other people. At these all-in sessions people can leave strangely satisfied, often feeling much better because others feel the same way. Participants can feel a sense of relief and healing.

In no way am I endorsing this behaviour but I’m analysing the effect. Character assassinations are cowardly, however, can you see the effect on the human psyche? For the critics it can be positive. It can be therapeutic.

Listening to Blues music can make people feel better.

Aristotle commented on the positive effect on audiences watching a Greek tragedy – a theatre production that in a way parallels a Misery Memoir. The Greek tragedies evoked both fear and pity. For Aristotle this resulted in catharsis for the audience – a release or purging of bad emotions.

Alexandra Kostoulas at medium.com puts this very well:

   In Aristotle’s Poetics, a lengthy and ancient treatise that draws out among other things the concept of the 5-act dramatic structure of plays, emotional catharsis comes to the audience after the audience experiences tragedy.

   After watching a tragedy, when everybody dies in the end, as we cry, we feel cleansed. Think about the end of Romeo and Juliet. This kind of art lets us feel the feelings. As the theory goes, after a good cry, we feel better. We feel better because we have directed our own anxieties outward and, through sympathetic identification with the tragic protagonist,

Indie publishing (or self-publishing) is a great medium for authors to experience catharsis. We call that ‘publishing as therapy’. The finished work, if put together well, can also be therapeutic for readers.

I’m now working on a new, more positive name for the Misery Memoir. Maybe the Cathartic Memoir. Does anyone have any ideas?

David Walters | Founder | Green Hill