
Mislabeled as a Memoirist, Author Asks: Whose Work Gets to Be Journalism? - samclemens
http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/01/484166871/mislabeled-as-a-memoirist-author-asks-whose-work-gets-to-be-journalism
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macspoofing
If I understand correctly, the book was marketed as a memoir at the insistence
of the publisher ... because sexism and racism?

The tense relationship between authors and publishers is as old as books.
Publishers want to move lots of units. Authors want to realize their vision.
Sometimes the two go hand in hand, and sometimes not. Pretty common in every
creative industry.

I don't want to trivialize and dismiss the author's experience but she has no
qualms doing the same to her fellow (white, male) authors, who apparently have
it so easy attaining credibility and earning a living practicing their craft.

~~~
andrewvc
You're adding complexity to a situation that doesn't need it, and masking some
serious social problems here with what can only be described as FUD. There is
no way a man going undercover in North Korea would ever get his work labeled
as a memoir.

Perhaps its a sad fact that the work of women sells more copies when sold as a
memoir and the publisher is make a shrewd decision. Perhaps its possible that
the publisher is just can't conceive of women in a contemporary way.

Whatever the case, the situation is FUBAR. This is a journalistic work and it
should be presented as such because that is that only way to publish it with
integrity. Everyone at that publisher should be ashamed of what they've done.

~~~
918298191
If this theory is true, one needs to take it up with women: In my country they
are the majority of book buyers and yes, many of them would probably respond
to the memoir angle.

Men would not.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
The publisher is still at fault. Lying does not become okay when it gets you
money.

~~~
099128981281
I was responding to:

"Perhaps its possible that the publisher is just can't conceive of women in a
contemporary way."

The point is that apparently the _female buyers_ cannot "conceive of women in
a contemporary way".

------
jasonshen
Imagine spending 10 years working on a product and then being told at the last
minute that it was going to be marketed in a completely different way than you
expected. Like you think you're making an intelligent puzzler for adult
gamers, and then they wrap it in a cartoonish package and call it "Wally's
Wicked World of Puzzles!"

I'm glad she's decided to speak up about this issue and I absolutely agree
that the chances a white man would get similar treatment is close to nill.

And for those who think these kinds of racial thought experiments don't hold
water, they can and do. Consider the fact that Academy Award winning actor
Forest Whitaker was once patted down in the middle of an upscale deli because
an employee thought he might be shoplifting. Now consider whether that would
ever happen to a white actor of a similar pedigree and try to argue that
racism was not at work.

[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/forest-whitaker-
fal...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/forest-whitaker-falsely-
accused-shoplifting-frisked-new-york-deli_n_2719712.html)

~~~
hammock
Happens all the time to game makers, screenplay writers, songwriters, pretty
much any type of auteur or IP creator. Retaining full creative control over
the product is very rare and requires control of production and distribution.

This control varies by the medium. A painter can do it easily (sometimes),
many other artists cannot.

Moreover, "marketing" can never be controlled. A critic with a platform can
say whatever she wants about your work and you can't stop her.

------
golemotron
One of the top reviewer comments on Amazon from 2014 before the kertuffle. If
this is the case, she's written something which is more like a memoir than
investigative journalism and her work was not mislabeled:

 _" The first is Kim herself. The first 30% of the book is heavily
autobiographical, for no apparent reason. She "loves" her students before even
two weeks have passed, which devalues the unnamed "lover" in New York she
refers to consistently but rather pointlessly. She has passages of overly
flowery language that seem to have been taken from a novel not written;
strangely, but thankfully, they disappear by the 2nd half of the book.

Those sections would have been better served by giving us information on
things like how many students were at the school, and how many teachers there
were, and whether this was meant to replace a normal college education or
merely supplement it. She frequently mentions that things are "forbidden", but
never conveys how this information is conveyed to the teachers. Various things
are "approved", but again there is no description of how this happens. Are
written submissions made? Do teachers ask their minders face to face? Does the
(foreign) college president play any role in the decisions?"_

And another:

 _" This book is divided into two parts. In the first part of the book we are
taken on a small journey as you learn about the life of the author. I was
moved to think what culture shock she must have experienced when she explains
having to move to the United States during her early teenage years and having
to adapt to a new language and society. I love how Kim uses these experiences
in order to relate them to the subject of the book which in turn would be her
stay as a teacher at the PUST School in North Korea. The first half of the
book speaks concerning her first visit years before to North Korea and the
impact it had on her life."_

~~~
RIMR
Journalism should never be autobiographical. I haven't read the book, and I
probably should because it sounds extremely interesting, but from this it
certainly doesn't sound like it should be defined as journalism. Suki Kim
needs to pick her battles...

~~~
cardiffspaceman
What is the difference between gonzo journalism and memoir? Neither aspires to
objectivity without personal context.

P.S.: You're right, I know nothing of literature, that's why my thesis is a
question.

