Rate this book

My Lie: A True Story Of False Memory (2010)

by Meredith Maran(Favorite Author)

3.19 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0470502142 (ISBN13: 9780470502143)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Jossey-Bass

review 1: Meredith Maran is scrupulously honest and thorough in examining how she came to accuse her father of molesting her, change her mind, and then apologize, not only to him, but to her entire family. She documents the rise of the societal hysteria that persuaded many women and parents of toddlers of widespread incest, sexual abuse and satanic cults in the late 80's and its eventual waning. But she is right that it is NOT over and many families torn asunder continue to live with the fallout.I agree with fellow reviewer Fred Moramarco that this book would benefit greatly from an index and/or bibliography.
review 2: I enjoyed the narrative, confessional style of the writing. It was not written in a "sensational" way to leverage on "shock value," just with a flow of ho... morenesty and precision with analyzing the events of this "true story of false memory" (as the subtitle states).I thoroughly enjoyed the journalistic touch to the book, such as the media clippings in between the main text, and the fierce investigation for the facts (justified according to the criteria of the time being perpetuated as the truth, such as having symbolic dreams) behind the author's beliefs for having repressed memories. This eventually culminates in an admission on the author's part that she had perpetrated a devastating injustice upon her own family, as a result of this modern-day episode of mass hysteria.As I wrote in a comment on one of the reviews on Amazon, I do not think that Ms. Maran is speaking for people who have had genuine, recovered memories of abuse. This does not mean she does not care for these people, or discounts their memories entirely. The book is an account of [HER] LIE--a story of false memories, and believing that one was a victim of childhood sexual abuse, when in actual fact, one wasn't. She is sharing her experience, and people who went through this same "brainwashing"/"Planet Incest" experience, will be able to identify with her account. Nowhere in the book does she state that "and therefore, this means that those who did experience real sexual abuse, are all liars (because I realized I was falsely convincing myself into believing I'd had repressed memories of unspeakable childhood abuse)."The two situations are completely different, and should be clearly distinguished in a person's mind, before they accuse the author of being hypocritical towards those who truly did have recovered memories. What about those who, like the author, were subject to this mass hysteria, and led themselves to believe that they had repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse? Those are the people who have been through trauma as well--based on public psyche and the whole "sex-abuse panic."This book is one account of an individual who came to an eventual realization of the deception, and had the courage and clarity of conscience to take steps to rectify the damage she and her loved ones suffered, as a result of the deception (which was encouraged by psychologists/therapists of the time--such was the fashion, then). And it's a brave, intense, well-written account. It is evident that those who went through a similar experience appreciate this memoir."My Lie: A True Story of False Memory"--there couldn't be a more accurate title and subtitle. Best wishes to Ms. Maran. less

Download links for: My Lie: A True Story of False Memory

Advertising