Ordinary people's memoirs boom in popularity
#1
(This post was last modified: 09-24-2022, 02:53 PM by Kyng.)
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/s...ll-stories

Brian Lewis grew up on a tough council estate after arriving in England as part of the Windrush generation. At the age of eight he developed an interest in chess, and joined a team formed of council estate kids to take part in championships against children from generally more privileged backgrounds. Aged 12 he took on – and beat – an international chess grandmaster.

You have probably never heard of Brian, and yet he is among the thousands of people who are joining a rapidly growing trend of “ordinary” people preserving for posterity their life stories with a ghost-written autobiography. And there has been a sharp rise in demand for these services following the Covid pandemic.

“I think that during the lockdowns people perhaps started to think about their own mortality, and those of their loved ones,” says Rutger Bruining, founder and CEO of StoryTerrace, one of the fastest-growing biography services in the UK. “People couldn’t see their parents, kids couldn’t see their grandparents, and people didn’t know how long that would last.”



Yeah, it does make a certain amount of sense: during the lockdown, people had plenty of time to organise their memoirs (and ponder existential questions :P ).

So, have you read any of these - or indeed, written your own?
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#2
There are no ordinary people. Celebrities are no different from anyone else.

I have actually read a few autobiographies of private citizens (as opposed to public figures) such as 'Up The Crossing' by Ken Ausden, 'Billy Brown, I'll Tell Your Mother' by Bill Brown and 'A Field Full Of Butterflies' by Rosemary Penfold. Rosemary is a genuine Romani.
'You need a crazy mind just to stay alive' - Tomas Ledin, 1980.
 
Agnetha
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#3
Yeah, when I said 'ordinary people', it was really just because I couldn't think of a better term - but, I agree that 'private citizens' is probably better :) .

Anyway, those sound good - and I hope you enjoyed them :) !
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#4
I did very much, thank you, C. Ken Ausden later became a primary school headmaster.
'You need a crazy mind just to stay alive' - Tomas Ledin, 1980.
 
Agnetha
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#5
I actually pondered the other day whether people would read random people’s memoirs. Then; I found this thread. I guess by ordinary it’s more people not being in the public eye. Everyone has a story to tell and are unique. I would love to read stuff like this, perhaps even write my own.
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