For those who don’t know (this gives excellent basic background.
Would you have written a book like she did. I saw her interview with Paxman, he creamed her. She seems confused and frankly uncaring despite her protests.
I’m not really sure I see your point. What do you wish to say, claim, aver, dispute, or otherwise communicate?
Ms Myerson is a novelist of some standing. She kicked her son (then 17 now 20) out of her house 3 years ago for smoking cannibis. She has now published a book about it. Has been big news here in the UK for about a week. People have had many opinions on it. She claims that her book was published out of love, but many pundits have slammed her book as exploiting her son.
Reading through some of the Wikipedia links, I find that some poems written by her son are in the novel, and he was paid a fee of $1000 for their use. So he was aware of the book and its contents, which changes the picture, don’t you think? He at some point had the opportunity to object to the book’s being published. It’s possible that she may have indicated to him that she would not reveal that this was an actual family story nor that he was the main character and then he might have some grounds for complaint when she revealed the truth, but that’s not what I’m getting from the Wikipedia links.
I haven’t read the novel in question.
I would say that the any adult who comes in contact with an author is fair game. Family members are fair game provided they’re adults. Kids are off limits but once they reach majority - fair game.
I think Myerson crossed a line in writing about her 17 year old but only just. The book is fictional. I don’t think it’s fair to assume the book is an accurate portrayal of everything involved. If she’d waited a few more years I’d have no problem with it at all.
I think she should have held off writing about the teen years until the kids were older. Non-fiction writers have a bigger responsibility to leave their kids alone than fiction writers do, imo. The kids didn’t volunteer to associate with her and she should have respected that they had no option to avoid her.
I don’t think Myerson ‘betrayed’ him - and I think the people who refuse to acknowledge that it’s a work of fiction are overemotional. But without using loaded words I think she pushed the limit of what’s acceptable in writing about minors.
I think that’s the real line she crossed - the kids had no way to opt out of being used as material. Adults (including the grown up kids and others) can all shun her if they don’t want to be seen as potential book fodder. And I wouldn’t blame any adult including family if they told her to take a hike. But the kids had no option to kick her out therefore they were powerless.
But as long as everyone involved is clearly an adult then I think a writer is justified to do what’s necessary for the art. (Within the bounds of libel and with the understanding that it might make them persona non gratis.) I think authors are free to write whatever they need to but I don’t think their acquaintances are obliged to keep hanging out with them.
Authors who insist that the subjects in their works should have the last word are authors who are never going to write anything special. You don’t have to hurt peoples’ feelings to write great literature but you do have to write without worrying about pleasing everyone.
The ethics of it aside, I just can’t picture myself wanting to air the family dirty laundry out like that. Wouldn’t you be irritated if every time you had a fight with a family member they wrote about it in a public setting?