[Note: I swear I had this post ready to roll prior to class today!]
Every
once in a while, a book is released and evokes such a wide-spread reaction that
it makes the news. This reaction may be the result of a book’s sheer popularity
with its intended (or unintended) audience or due to scandalous claims made
within the book’s pages. Whatever the reason may be, this hysteria flares up
from time to time.
One particular instance that comes to mind is when A Million Little Pieces by James Frey was released as his memoir in 2003. It wasn’t until 2006 after a six week long investigation that The Smoking Gun published an article called “A Million Little Lies” shining light on fabrications in Frey’s account of his drug abuse experiences and criminal record. Frey eventually appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show admitting that the same “Demons” that made him turn to alcohol and drugs had also caused him to fabricate portions of his “memoir”.
On the other hand, books like 50 Shades of Grey hit the literary scene and stir up a completely different kind of hysteria. Hysteria that E.L. James will be profiting from for a long, long time.
What are some other instances of book hysteria that are particularly memorable to you? Are there any instances you can think of when the book imagery rather than the story itself was the cause for commotion?
