Justifiable Conduct: Self-Vindication in Memoir - Couverture rigide

Goode, Erich

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1439910251 ISBN 13 : 9781439910252

Editeur : Temple University Press,U.S., 2012

Synopsis

Rare Book

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

How do memoirists make their work interesting, daring, exciting, and unorthodox enough so that they attract an audience, yet not so heinous and scandalous that their readers can't empathize or identify with them? In Justifiable Conduct, renowned sociologist Erich Goode explores the different strategies memoirists use to "neutralize" their supposed wrongdoing and fashion a more positive image of themselves for audiences. He examines how writers, including James Frey, Susan Cheever, Roman Polanski, Charles Van Doren and Elia Kazan, explain, justify, contextualize, excuse, or warrant their participation in criminal behaviour, substance abuse, sexual transgressions, political radicalism, and other improprieties. Using a theory of deviance neutralization, Goode assesses the types of behaviour exhibited by these memoirists to draw out generic narratives that are most effective in attempting to absolve the actor-author. Despite the highly individualistic and variable lives of these writers, Goode demonstrates that memoirists use a conventional vocabulary for their unconventional behaviour. Erich Goode is Sociology Professor Emeritus at Stony Brook University. He has published ten books (including Moral Panics, The Paranormal, Deviant Behavior, and Drugs in American Society), seven anthologies, and articles that have appeared in magazines, newspapers, and an array of academic journals. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and has taught at half-a-dozen universities, including the University of Maryland, New York University, and the University of North Carolina.

Revue de presse :

"Erich Goode's "Justifiable Conduct" is a deeply considered and wildly fascinating look into the craft of memoir. This book should be required reading for those who read, write, love, or loathe memoir. This important contribution to a genre that has become a heated topic of debate, in both literary circles and popular culture, is a must read." --Emily Rapp, Professor of Creative Writing and Literature at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design; member of the MFA faculty at the University of California, Riverside; and writer

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Temple University Press,U.S.
• Date d'édition: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1439910251
• ISBN 13: 9781439910252
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 224